Desperado
by Shelby-Belby
Summary: Damian McGinty doesn't want to remember. He doesn't want to remember the night of the accident. He doesn't want to remember answering the phone or crying on the cold kitchen floor. He doesn't want to remember any of it. Yet it's all there. Forever...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The though _I can't do_ this ran through Damian McGinty's head for the third time since he woke up an hour ago. And he knew exactly why today was going to be hard, because to day was the day of his parents funereal.

"Damian," Nicola asked, tugging on the back of his shirt as he stood at the counter in the kitchen.

"Yeah?" he asked, wiping the tears away.

"When are we going to see Mommy and Daddy?" she asked.

Just by the sound of her voice, Damian knew the six year old was smiling.

"Noon, Cola." He said, loving the joy in her voice.

"Okay."

And with that she ran up stairs.

"Wake up Bridgett, while your up there!" he yelled after her.

"Okey dokey!" she giggled.

Damian looked at his watch, ten fifteen.

"I better get Coner." He said, pulling his shoes and coat on.

He pushed open the back door and walked outside. Conner had been spending the last few days in his old tree house in the backyard ever since he had heard about his parents. He slept out there every night despite the fact that it was never above six degrees at night and snowy.

"Coner. Come in, come inside." Damian shouted at the floor of the tree fort.

"NO!!" Coner shouted back.

"Fine! Then, I'm coming up." Damian said.

"Really?" Coner opened the trap door.

"Yeah. Sure. Why not?" he said, shaking his head and climbing up the wooden make shift ladder.

"You haven't been up here since you were twelve." Coner said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I know. We need to talk though." Damian said, pulling himself through the trapped door. "Wow, this place looked so much bigger when I was twelve."

"That's cause it was. There was way less shit in it at that time." Coner said, sitting down on the couch.

"How the hell did you get a couch up here?" Damian asked, staring at the couch.

"I have my ways." Coner smiled.

"There's the brother I know." Damian said, seeing his little brother smile.

"What do you want?" Coner asked, suddenly full of anger.

Damian sighed. Coner is not the crying type. He turned his sadness into rage, and hits and throws things.

"We're leaving in two hours." He said, trying to figure out where to start.

"And…"

"You can't stay out here forever."

"Watch me!"

"Coner! Be reasonable! You can't just hide out here until it goes away! It's not going away! Mom and Dad aren't coming back! It's not like they're gone on vacation! They're gone forever! And you have to realize that eventually. Preferably sooner rather then later. Because there are three other people I have to worry about who miss their parents just as much as you do! So get over yourself and help!"

Damian threw open the trapped door.

"And you better be ready to go soon."

He dropped down and landed on his knees in the snow.

As Damian walked back towards the house, he heard Coner sobbing.

Damian gave once last glance back to the tree house, and then walked inside.

"Why do I have to be up, when Nathan gets to sleep?" Bridgett asked, when Damian walked back into the house.

"Because you slept last night, Nathan didn't." Damian said, shrugging out of his coat.

"I hardly call what I did last night sleeping." Bridgett said, resting her head on the island.

"I know, but I need you awake. Nathan would just get in the way and make a big mess." He said, rubbing Bridgett's back. "People are going to be going in and out of our house all day, people we know, people Mom and Dad worked with, neighbors, and family. The last thing I need is Nathan being awake. He's a handful right now. So, please Bridgett? It won't be that hard, and you can sleep all day tomorrow if you want."

"Okay." Bridgett said, sitting up and hugging Damian.

Damian pulled her out of her seat; her feet didn't touch the floor. She buried her face in his collar.

"And this is one of the reasons I was hiding out side, to much lovey dovey, touchy feely, it's okay to cry, let's talk about it crap." Coner said.

"And you are…?" Bridgett asked, looking over Damian's shoulder at her other big brother.

"Haha. I get it. Coner hasn't been here the past few days and Bridgett forgot about him. Haha ha, that's just so hilarious." Coner said.

"I love you too, Coner." Bridgett laughed.

Damian returned his little sister to the floor and walked over to Coner. He hugged his little brother.

"Thank you." He said.

Coner hugged back.


	2. Chapter 2

"Nathan, come on. It's time to get up." Damian said, shaking his youngest brother.

"I don't wanna do this." He whined, pulling his covers over his head.

"I know. I know. I don't either. But, we have to. You can go right back to sleep, once we get home. We'll only be out for an hour or…three." He said. "You have half an hour. There will be food at the church. And your clothes are on your desk."

Damian walked out of Nathan's room and down the hall to his room. He himself was only half dressed. He had put on the white button up, the black tie, although he didn't tie it, and his black blazer. He just needed to change into his dress pants, and pull his black Converse high tops on.

Bridgett walked into Damian's room, not even bothering to knock. She was wearing a black strapless dress, and no show white socks. Her hair was in two pigtails.

She walked across the room and fell onto Damian's bed, and bugged a pillow to her chest.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Everything!" she whined loudly and started bawling.

"Bee. Please don't cry on me," he said, walking over to his little sister and sitting down beside her.

She crawled into his lap.

"I can't help it," she sobbed.

"I know. Believe me. I know, Beebe." He said hugging his little sister.

Bridgett buried her face in his shirt.

"Bridge, we're leaving soon. Finish getting ready." Damian said.

"Fine." Bridgett said, walking out of the room.

Damian changed into his dress pants, and pulled on his shoes.

"This is gonna suck, majorly." He said to his reflection as he fixed his collar.

He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Coner was sitting at the table with Nicola in his lap.

"Ready?" he asked.

"No." Coner said. "Wait, you mean ready to leave. Yeah, I'm ready."

Damian shook his head and walked into the living room.

Bridgett was lacing up her Converse. Nathan was lying on the couch; his hands covered his face. He looked like a gothic kid going to school. Just black jeans, a white t-shirt, all black Converse, and a black jacket.

"Nate, really?" Damian asked, standing over Nathan.

"Yeah." He said.

Damian shook his head, and walked outside and started the car.


	3. Chapter 3

Damian parked the car, and everyone got out in the snow-covered cemetery.

He opened the trunk for Nathan, and the side door for Nicola.

He picked Nicola up and followed the people carrying their parents' coffins.

Everyone was following. A lot of people knew Damian Sr. and Abigail McGinty. There was three miles from the church to the cemetery. People were still leaving the church when Damian and his siblings arrived at the cemetery.

Once everyone was there the priest said some prayers.

Honestly, Damian wasn't paying attention. He was paying attention to his siblings. He had one arm around Coner's shoulders, the other around Bridgett's; she was holding Nicola. They all had tears falling.

Nathan was standing a few feet behind Damian and to the left. His arms folded across his chest. He had tears rolling down his cheeks, but he refused to let anyone touch him.

There were hundreds of people there.

After half an hour at the grave sight the McGinty kids left and went home.

Damian hadn't even opened the door when a car parked in front of the house.

He glanced over his shoulder. They were the O'Riley family. People Damian had known since before he was born.

But, today he had more important things, like Nathan looking like he was about to hurl, Coner crying, and Nicola falling asleep in Bridgett's arms.

Damian pushed open the door and walked inside.

Nathan pushed past him, and ran into the kitchen. He opened the garbage can. He opened his mouth and hurled.

Damian walked over and put a hand on his little brother's back.

"You'll be fine." He said.

Nathan coughed, and stood up.

"How do you know?" he asked, taking a bottle of water out of the fridge and chugging half of it.

"I don't know. But I can promise you, kiddo that I will try and make this life good for us." He said, hugging Nathan.

"It hurts, Damian." Nathan said, burring his face in Damian's ice-cold shirt.

"I know, Nathan. Believe me," he said, rubbing Nathan's back.

"Yeah, but you're an adult. You can take care of yourself. I'm only fourteen. I need Momma and Dad around." He said, tears falling.

"I know, Nathan. But, we don't have Momma and Dad anymore. But, you have me and Coner and Bridgett and even Nicola if you wanna talk to her." He said, hugging Nathan tight.

Nathan sobbed.

"You wanna go up stairs?" Damian asked.

Nathan nodded, but didn't pull away.

"Okay." Damian said, when Nathan didn't move.

Damian bent down and picked his baby brother up with ease. Nathan wrapped his arms around his brother neck, and buried his face in his arm.

Damian headed for the stairs when the phone rang.

He grabbed it with one hand, and kept one arm under Nathan.

"Hello?" he said, as he walked up the stairs.

"Damian, I know this probably isn't the best of times," Celtic Thunder's manager, Sharon Browne said. "But, tour starts in a month, and rehearsals start tomorrow. Bring the little one's. They'll need to get out for a while."

"Hmm. Ugh. O-okay." Damian sighed. "I'll be there at the usual time. And there will be tears."

"It's okay, sweetie. George is bringing his daughters, and Ryan is bringing his son."

"Okay. I must go. Nathan's having a break down." Damian said.

"Okay. We'll see you tomorrow." Sharon said.

Damian hung up the phone and dropped it on the hall table.

He walked into Nathan's room and laid Nathan on his bed.

"You want me to stay or can I go?" he said, rubbing Nathan's hair.

"I want you to stay, but you should be down stairs." He muttered, wiping his cheeks.

"I'll come check on you when I can." He said, kissing Nathan's forehead.

Nathan nodded and Damian ran down stairs.

Damian walked into the living room; Bridgett was eating a plate of hot chocolate chip cookies that we're probably dropped off by the O'Riley family. Coner was lying on the couch, staring at a black TV screen. Nicola was sitting on the floor playing with a baby doll.

"Where's Nate?" Bridgett asked, offering Damian a cookie.

He took because it looked good, not because he wanted it.

"He's in his room. He needs to sleep." He said.

"And we don't?" Nicola asked.

"We do, babe. But…" Damian tried to think of how to put that Nathan was a Momma's boy, and really dependant on his parents.

"Are Mommy and Daddy going to Heaven?" Nicola suddenly asked.

Tears filled Damian's eyes.

"Of course, Cola. Why did you ask that?" he asked, kneeling down beside Nicola.

Nicola shrugged.

Damian kissed Nicola's forehead and stood up.

Coner suddenly sat up and covered his eyes.

"I'll be in the tree house." He said, pulling his shoes and coat on.

"Coner!" Damian said, running outside after his brother.

Coner was already climbing up the ladder.

"Fine. Just please, please, please sleep inside tonight. We'll probably all be in bed by ten. You'll be safe inside, too. Please, Coner?" Damian shouted up at the tree house.

Damian squinted into the snow falling down.

"Fine!" Coner shouted, his voice cracking.

Damian ran back inside. There were three more things of food we're on the kitchen counter.


	4. Chapter 4

"Night night, Nicola." Damian said, kissing his baby sister.

"Nighty night, Dame-o." she giggled.

Damian turned on Cola's night-light, walked out of the door, closing it behind him.

He walked down the hall, towards Bridgett's room. He raised his fist to knock but heard her talking.

"It's only been since you died, Daddy. Your funeral was today. I couldn't help it, I cried. I really miss you." She started crying.

"Bee?" Damian said, knocking on the door.

"Hey." She said, wiping her tears away.

"I just came to say good night." He said, standing in her doorway.

"Good night." She said, pushing her covers down and sitting on her bed.

Damian walked over and covered her up.

"I'll wake you up in the morning, so you can get ready to go. We'll have to leave at ten."

Bridgett nodded.

"Anything you wanna talk about?" he asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

"Not as of right now." She said, lying down.

"Okay. If you ever wanna talk, you know where to find me." he said, kissing her forehead.

Bridgett nodded and hugged him.

Damian walked down to his room and laid down. Nathan was already passed out in his bed.

"I already hate it," he muttered as he crawled into bed and turned out the light.


	5. Chapter 5

"MOM!!! MOM!!!" Nathan screamed. "MOMMY!!"

Damian kicked off his covers and ran into Nathan's room.

The room was completely dark except for dim green light was coming from Nathan's clock, saying it was one in the morning.

"Nathan. Wake up!" Damian said, shaking Nathan.

Nathan kicking and screamed and thrashing all around. He was still asleep, crying and screaming for his mom. He was drenched in a cold sweat.

Damian shook Nathan's shoulder violently, and Nathan jerked awake, and grabbed on to Damian, crying into his shirt.

He was shaking violently.

Damian sat down on the bed and pulled Nathan into his lap.

"Calm down, you're all right. Everything's all right. It was just a dream." He said, rocking Nathan gently.

Nathan was gripping the front of Damian's t-shirt, crying hysterically.

"It's okay. Damian's gotcha. You're gonna be fine." He said, rubbing Nathan's back.

After about an hour, Nathan finally calmed down. He still was crying, but not as bad, and he had the hiccups.

"All better?" Damian asked, lying Nathan back down.

Nathan nodded and sniffled, as he wiped his cheek.

Damian kissed Nathan's forehead and stood up. He turned to leave and Nathan's tear covered hand grabbed his wrist.

"You don't wanna be alone." Damian said, turning around.

Nathan shook his head.

Damian took a breath and let it out slowly through his nose.

Nathan bit his lower lip, trying to stop the tears.

Damian climbed over Nathan and laid down behind him on the single bed.

"Go to sleep. We have to wake up early in the morning." Damian said, pulling the covers over them.

Nathan fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

Damian didn't dare leave. He didn't want Nathan crying anymore over something as little as waking up in the middle of the night and Damian being gone.

"Mom, did you have to deal with him being so clingy?" he asked a little while later, stroking Nathan's hair.

"She did." Nathan muttered. "I'm sorey I'm such a burden."

"Don't ever think that you're a problem, Nathan." Damian said, sitting up. "You are not a problem, and don't say that. I don't care what I said. You are not a burden."

Nathan buried his face in his pillow. His shoulder's shook.

"I'm sorey, Nathan. I didn't mean it how it sounded." He said, hugging his little brother.

"Yes, you did!" Nathan trashed, trying to pull away.

Damian held on as Nathan thrashed around.

"Nathan!" Damian yelled, when Nathan accidentally slugged him in the jaw.

Nathan quit fighting, and his body went limp. He stopped moving completely; he just laid there in Damian's arms, with tears pouring down his flushed cheeks.

Damian smiled at his little brother's reaction.

Nathan kinda sat up and rested his head on Damian's upper arm.

"You'll be fine. Just go back to sleep." Damian said, rocking Nathan. "And I did not mean what I said."

Nathan nodded and sniffled again.


	6. Chapter 6

"Damian. Wake up. Sharon's on the line." Bridgett said, shaking Damian gently.

Damian grunted and held out his hand of the phone.

"Hullo?" he said, once he put the phone to his ear.

His eyes were still closed.

"Damian, you're usually early. Where are you?" she asked.

"Um, we're on our way." Damian lied.

"Sure, baby. Just hurry up down here, alright?" she asked.

"We'll be down soon." He said.

He hung up the phone and handed it back to Bridgett who was still standing in front of him.

"What?" he asked, his eyes half closed.

She waved her hands around with this look of "what's all this?" on her face.

Damian looked around. He was in Nathan's bedroom, with Nathan on his lap.

"Bad night. Yours will come along sooner or later." Damian smiled manically, waking Nathan up.

Bridgett glared at Damian and walked out of the room.

Damian stood up and set a half awake Nathan on his bed.

"Get ready, we're leaving soon, and grab something you can eat in the car." Damian walked out of the bedroom and into his.

"This is gonna be a long day." He said to his walls as he changed into dark jeans, and a clean t-shirt.

He hopped down the stairs, pulling his shoes on.

Coner was asleep on the couch, wearing clean clothes. Nicola was watching Hannah Montana. Bridgett was reading a book.

"Ready to go?" he asked, walking into the kitchen.

There was a fresh pot of coffee waiting for him.

"Yeah." Nicola said.

"You're welcome." Bridgett said, walking into the kitchen.

"You're awesome." He said, hugging her.

"I know. What would you do without me?" she giggled.

"I'd probably go on a rampage through downtown Tokyo, destroying all building and throwing people into the ocean, until I was intern captured by the ISS and brought to the Untied States to be probed and studied. And then eventually killed, because I killed the President, because of the flash on the camera when he tried to get a picture with me." he said, pouring coffee into a to go mug.

"You're really weird Damian." She said, walking back into the living room.

"I know." he said, watching the stem rise off the hot coffee.

He walked back into the living room. Nicola was gone, and Nathan still wasn't down.

"Hurry up, guys!" he shouted up the stairs. "We're leaving!"

Nicola ran down the stairs, carrying her doll. Nathan trudged down the stairs, wearing a dingy white t-shirt, black jeans, and a black Bob Marley hoodie. He looked utterly exhausted.

"Let's go." He said, holding Nicola's coat open for her.

Bridgett woke Coner up and they left, pulling their coats on as they walked out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

"Morning, Damian." Tori McGregor, George's niece, said, when Damian and his siblings walked in.

"Hey." He said, hugging her.

"How you holding up?" she asked, Nicola's from Damian.

"Been better." He said, walking into the dressing room.

Tori set Nicola down on the edge of the stage and ran after Damian.

She caught up with Damian who was half way to the dressing room, and slid her hand into his.

"You wanna talk?" she asked.

"Not right now." He said, squeezing her hand.

"You need, hunny." She said, trying to keep up with his big steps.

"Not now, I don't." he said, walking into the dressing room.

"But you do have to sometime." She said, as he dropped her hand.

"But, I don't have to now." He said, dropping his backpack on the bench and pulling his coat off.

He tossed it on top of his backpack and walked out with everyone else.

"Damian," she sighed, and followed him.

"Well, now down to business since everyone is here." Sharon said, as Damian walked onto the stage.

Damian looked up and sat down.

"Tour starts in two weeks, first concert is in Caledonia." Sharon said.

Damian smiled; he's always loved Caledonia.

"We're going to be doing things a little differently this tour because…" Sharon hesitated.

"Because my parents are dead and I have to take them with me. Got it. Are we gonna be on the same bus? Cause that one had enough extra bunks for the five of them. Or are we gonna be on a different bus? Or are we just gonna get another bus? I mean, what's one more vehicle on the list, we already have like—"

"Damian!" Keith yelled.

Damian shut up.

"We're going to be on the same bus. We own it. And no more sticking your gum on over your bunk, Damian. It took days to scrape it all off." Sharon glared at him with a smile on her face.

"I was working on making a dog picture. We should get a dog." He said, to no one.

"We need to get him on some medication for that." Keith said.

"I'm sorry. What?" he said.

"Did you sleep at all last night, Damian?" George asked.

Damian stole a quick glance at Nathan; he was sitting on the stairs away from the stage, playing his guitar.

"No." he said still looking at Nathan.

George looked at when Damian was looking and nodded.

"The tour will be pretty long, as usual. We're going around Ireland, Scotland and England a little. A few stops in Canada. Mainly America. You'll be performing in the St. Patrick's Day parade again, this year."

Damian raised his hand. Sharon nodded at him. He didn't say anything.

"Damian?" she said.

"My kilt's too short. I got taller, lost weight and gained muscle since our last…whatever." He said.

"We an get you a new one." She said.

"He no longer has those pinch-able chipmunk cheeks." Keith teased grabbing one of Damian's cheeks.

"Stop." Damian smiled, smacking Keith's hand away.


	8. Chapter 8

Ring-ring…Ring-ring…Ring-ring…

"With the phone calls." Damian said, trying to find the phone.  
"Where's the fucking phone?!"

"It's in the cookie jar!" Bridgett hollered.

"Why exactly?" Damian asked, opening the jar and pulling out the phone.

"Coner did it!" she hollered back.

"What? Hello?" Damian said, putting the crumb covered, chocolate smelling phone to his ear.

"Is this the McGinty residence?" a woman asked.

"Yeah. Who's asking?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Elizabeth Carson from Family and social services." The woman said. "Whom am I speaking with?"

"Damian." He said, solemnly, he knew what came next.

"Well, you are the only one who is old enough to stay alone. We would like to schedule a meeting with you and your siblings about custody arrangements." She said.

"…Okay…when?" he asked, tears building in his eyes.

"How's this afternoon?" she asked.

"…Okay. Where?"

"Court house downtown, around two?" she asked.

"Sure? We'll be there." Damian said, and hung up the phone.

Damian ran his fingers though his hair.

"This is way too much shit to do in one day." He groaned looking at the time on the microwave.

It was eleven thirty.

"Guys! Front and center!" Damian hollered, sounding way too much like his father.

Bridgett walked in from the dining room, Nicola popped out from under the sink, Coner walked in the back door, and Nathan walked slowly and solemnly down the stairs and sat on the fourth step from the bottom, avoiding the light.

Damian picked up Nicola.

"What's up?" Coner asked.

"Well…it was bound to happen sometime." Damian said, trying to figure out how to put it.

"We're being taken away, ain't we?" Bridgett asked.

"I will not let that happen, Bee. I swear to God I won't let them take you away." He said, hugging Bridgett with one arm.

"We have to be down at the court house at two. Go get cleaned up. Nice clothes, please." He said, letting go of his sisters.

The kids ran upstairs and Damian leaned against the fridge trying to think.

He groaned and slid down to the floor. He had no idea what to do.

"Dame-o!" Nicola yelled, snapping Damian out of his trance.

Damian opened his eyes and looked at Nicola.

Nicola was standing on the stairs wearing pink underwear and that's it.

"What's up, baby girl?" he asked, pushing himself up off the ground.

Damian looked at the clock. One thirty.

"Shit." He muttered.

Damian picked his little sister up and ran up the stairs three at a time.

He set the six-year-old down on her bed and went over to her closet. He grabbed a pair of black pants and a pink baby doll top.

"Here. You can get dressed, and wear what ever shoes you want." He said, walking out of her room.

"Can I wear my ballerina tutu?" she asked, pulling her pants on.

"Ain't it white?" he asked, turning around.

She nodded.

"…Fine. I don't care." He said, running to his room.

He shut the door and stripped down to his blue plaid boxers and white wife beater.

He threw open his closet doors and stared at his clothes, trying to think of what to wear.

But, he didn't know. He had never gone to a courthouse for anything but a passport.

"This is one reason why I miss Mom." He muttered, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "No idea what the hell I'm supposed to wear."

"I suggest pants." Nathan said.

"Pants. Pants are a good idea. Pants essential." Damian muttered, pulling on a pair of dark denim jeans.

"Not for him. He could wear his kilt." Bridgett said.

"Which one?" he jokingly asked.

"Really. He's got two." Coner said.

"Three." Damian said, holding up his last three fingers.

"Three?" Nicola asked, in awe.

"No, four." He said, correcting himself.

"Four?" She asked, spinning over and grabbing onto his leg to keep from falling.

"Two black, two clan." He said, grabbing a burgundy button down and pulling it on.

"Wow. I only gots one." She said.

"Go get your jackets on." Damian said, butting all the buttons on his shirt but the top one.

He heard three pairs of feet run out of his room.

Damian pulled socks and navy converse sneakers on and turned around.

Bridgett was holding out a metallic purple tie and black hooded jacket.

"What would I do without you?" he asked, taking them.

"Nothing." She smiled.

Damian hastily tied his tie, keeping it a little loose and pulled the jacket on.

Bridgett straightened hit tie and looked at him.

"What?" he asked.

Bridgett walked over to his desk, and stood with her back to him. He watched in curiosity.

Bridgett turned around, rubbing blue hair gel in her hands. She stood on her toes and ran her gelled fingers though her oldest brothers hair, spiking it up.

"All better." She said, wiping her hands on one of Damian's dirty shirts.

"…Let's go." He said, putting an arm around her shoulder and leading her out of his room.

They ran down the stairs and into the living room.

Coner was lying on the couch, ready to go jeans, blue workout shirt (washed of course) and red Nikes. His coat was lying across his hips. Nicola was spinning around in dressed in what Damian had given her, her tutu and sparkly red ballet flats. Nathan was sitting on his feet in the chair wearing black jeans, a Slipknot t-shirt, black Converse, and a red and black checked hoodie, his black jacket was on the back of the chair. Bridgett stood on the bottom stair in white jeans, red Converse, and a long turquoise shirt.

"Ready to go?" Damian asked, pulling his coat on.

Nathan and Coner stood up wordlessly and pulled their coats on.

Nicola stopped spinning and fell into Damian's legs.

"Cola…" he groaned.

"What?" she asked, holding onto his jeans.

"…Never mind. I'll carry you." He said, holding her light blue coat open for her.

Damian opened Bridgett's coat for her.

"Let's go." He said, picking Nicola up.


	9. Chapter 9

Damian set Nicola down in the lobby of the courthouse and took her hand.

"Let's go." Damian said, walking towards the elevator.

When they came to the doors of the elevator, Bridgett hesitated.

"Let's go." Coner said, walking into the small space.

"I have claustrophobia issues." Bridgett said.

"What's that mean?" Nathan asked.

"It means she's a scared a Santee Clause." Nicola said.

"…No." Coner chuckled.

"Close. It means fear of confined spaces." Damian said, giving Nicola to Coner.

Bridgett didn't move.

"Come on, you'll be fine." Damian said, putting his arm around Bridgett's shoulders. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

He slowly led her into the elevator.

Bridgett buried her face in her big brother's shirt, and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

"You'll be fine." He said, rubbing her back.

"What level?" Nathan asked, quietly.

"Seven." Damian mouthed.

Nathan pushed the button and they rode in silence to the floor.

When they stepped out of the elevator, Elizabeth Carson was waiting for them.

"Hello." She said, sweetly.

None of the younger kids said anything.

"I'm Damian." He said. "I would shake your hand, but as you can see, my hands are tied."

Damian was holding Nicola in one arm, and had his other arm around Bridgett, who had her arms around his waist. Nathan was holding onto Damian's arm, the one he was holding Nicola with. Coner was standing behind Damian.

"Let's go into my office. We can talk." She said.

"Okay." Damian said, following Elizabeth down the hall.

Damian set Nicola on the floor, and she started dancing around the room.

Elizabeth sat down at her desk. Damian sat down in a chair in front of her desk, Coner sat down in the other chair. Bridgett sat down on the floor in between them, and Nathan laid down on the couch, and instantly fell asleep.

"Has he been sleeping at home?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not very well, he really misses Mom." Damian said, looking at Nathan. "We're still trying to get used to…"

"Everything." Bridgett said.

"I understand." Elizabeth said. "So, let's get to know each other a little better, why don't we?"

"Hi. I'm Nicola. I'm a ballerina." She giggled, climbing into Damian's lap. "Where's my doll?"

"My backpack." Damian said, bouncing the little girl on his knee.

Nicola giggled. "Where packpack?"

Damian opened his mouth, trying to remember.

"In the car." Bridgett said.

Nicola pouted.

"It's okay. This can wait a minute." Elizabeth said.

"Just note, if I get in that car, I ain't coming back." He said, raising his eyebrows. "So, you want me to go get her doll still?"

"We need to do this, Damian." She said, opening a thick file folder on her desk.

"I don't really wanna do this." He said, burying his face in Nicola's hair.

"Okay. You don't necessarily have to do this, sweetie. But, don't be surprised if you have someone come to your asking for the kids. And they're gonna have to go." Elizabeth said, closing the folder.

"Fuck no. They ain't going away. They're staying with me," he said, picking his head up.

Nicola pinched Damian's arm.

"Sorry." He said, kissing her head. "That hurt."

"No swear." She said, frowning at him.

"Damian, you have to do this." Coner said, staring out the window. "I can speak for all of us, we don't wanna go."

Damian's expression was stone cold.

Bridgett stood up, took Nicola from Damian, handed her to Coner and pulled Damian into the hall.

"Damian, we know you don't wanna do this. But, I don't wanna be a foster child. I could care less if I'm an orphan, I just be with my family. I lost Mom and Daddy already. There's no way in hell that I'm going to lose you, Coner, Nathan and Nicola too. So, you better get some balls and figure out how to keep us." She said, harshly.

"Ma'am, yes ma'am." Damian said, walking back into the counseling room.

Nathan was sitting criss cross on the couch, tears in his eyes, and confusion written on his face.

Damian walked over to his baby brother and picked him up. Nathan buried his face in Damian's jacket.

"Is he okay?" Elizabeth asked.

"He'll be fine." He said, sitting down with his little brother in his lap. "Let's get to this."


	10. Chapter 10

"We can pick this up next time." Elizabeth said.

Nathan hadn't calmed down in the past hour. Nicola was whining about being tired.

"Yeah. Nice meeting you, Elizabeth." Damian said, standing up, holding Nathan still.

The McGinty kids walked outside and into the car.

"Are you getting sick?" Damian asked, his little brothers.

Nathan looked really pale, paler then he usually did. Coner was wiping his running nose on the wrist of his jacket.

Damian felt their foreheads.

"I'm taking you two to the doctor tomorrow." He said.

Nicola sneezed.

"You too, Cola." He said, looking at the few red dots on her face.

Nicola nodded.

Damian sat down in the front seat and looked at Bridgett in the passenger seat.

"You might as well go too," he said, pushing her bangs out of her eyes.

Coner went straight up to his bed once they got home. Bridgett took Nathan upstairs and didn't come back down.

"Dame-o? Will you play with me?" Nicola asked, pulling a box out of the closet.

"Sure." Damian said, loosening his tie.

Nicola smiled and put the box down on the coffee table.

"Checkers?" Damian asked, pulling his shoes off.

Nicola nodded and looked up at Damian with her big brown eyes.

"Fine." Damian said, sliding off the couch and onto the floor.

Nicola fell asleep on the floor two hours later. Damian picked her up and carried her up to bed. He carefully changed her into her pajamas and covered her up.

"Night, Nicola." He said, kissing her forehead.

He walked out of her room and pulled the door closed behind him. He ran his fingers through his hair and walked to his room. He put his pajamas on and tossed his clothes down the laundry shoot.

He tried his hardest to fall asleep, but he kept tossing and turning, flipping his pillow to the cold side, trying to think about anything but the kids being taken away from him.

Finally around two o'clock in the morning he gave up and kicked his covers off. He pulled a hoodie over his head and walked down the dark hallway. He flipped the light on and peeked into Nathan's bedroom. Nathan lay quietly in his bed, snoring softly. Damian smiled and looked in the room across the hall, Nicola's. She was lying on his stomach with her but in the air.

Damian laughed and continued on. Bridgett was tangled in her sheets, one arm handing off the bed. Damian looked in the room across from his, Coner's. Coner wasn't in his bed. Damian groaned, wondering where his little brother was.

He looked in the guest room, just to see if Coner was there. The bed was perfectly made up and empty.

Damian sighed and looked the door at the other end of the hallway, right at the top of the front stairs. It was his parents' room and the door was slightly ajar.

The door hadn't been opened since Damian went in there to get his parents' clothes for their funeral.

He walked down the hall and stood in front of the door. He slowly put his hand on the door and pushed the door open. He was met with the familiar smell of his mom's flowery perfume, his dad's spicy cologne, and his dad's pipe.

Damian swallowed hard; it had been almost a month since he smelt that. He walked into the room and looked around. His dad's big leather chair was still sitting in the corner, the small table beside it. The dark wooden pipe sat on the table. His mom's pink chair was beside his dad's, a book sat on her table and a knitted blanket was draped over the chair.

In the far corner of the bedroom sat his mom's dressing table. Damian walked over and ran his fingers over the old wood of the table. His mother's makeup was still sitting all over the table. He looked in the mirror and sat his mother in the reflection. Her blue eyes sparkled, her wavy brown hair hung loose and down to her shoulders. The necklace that Damian had given her for her birthday two years ago still hung around her neck.

Tears stung the back of his eyes; he shook his head and spun around.

Coner was lying in the middle of the bed, wrapped in one of the blankets his mom knitted.

"Coner, you awake?" Damian asked, standing at the edge of the bed.

"…No." Coner muttered into the pillow.

Damian laid down by Coner and crawled under the blanket next to Coner. He reached out and pulled his little brother close.

"I hate this, Dame. I miss 'em." Coner said, burying his face in Damian's shirt.


	11. Chapter 11

"Coner, let's go." Damian said, rubbing his little brothers back. "It's time to go."

Coner rolled onto his side, away from Damian. Coner was still in his pajamas, sleeping unsoundly.

"Come on, Coner. You won't get better if we don't get you to the doctors." Damian said, picking Coner up.

Coner started whining, but cooperated when Damian put his shoes on him. Coner trudged down stairs, with Damian's help.

They got into the car and headed to the doctors office.

* * *

"I don't wanna get a shot." Nathan whined, as Damian walked into his examining room.

"It'll make you better, Nate." Damian said, hugging his little brother.

"I don't like needles." He said, tears in his eyes.

"There's no way for you to get better without the shot." Damian said, hugging Nathan.

* * *

"I have to go to hospital." Coner said when Damian walked into his room.

"What? Why?" he asked, staring at the doctor.

"Chest x-rays. I want to see what's going on in there. His breathing's shallow. Probably pneumonia." The doctor said.

"Told you, you should have been sleeping in side, Con." Damian teased, putting his arm around his half asleep little brother. "Let's go."

Damian pulled Coner to his feet and helped him walk out of the examining room.

Bridgett was standing in the lobby with Nathan on her back and Nicola holding onto her pant leg.

"What's the verdict for you and Cola?" he asked, picking Nicola up with his other arm.

"She's got a cold. I got an inner ear infection. I have my prescription on my purse. She just needs some fluids and cough syrup." Bridgett said.

"Have I told you that I love you?" Damian asked, putting Coner into his seat.

"Only always." She smiled buckling Nathan up.

"We need to get Coner to the hospital. Dr. Hoffman called for us. Can you drive them home from the ER?" he asked, turning a corner.

"Yeah. I know my way around." She said.

"Got your license?"

"Only always."

"Okay. Here is Nathan's prescription. Go get them filled, and anything else they want. You still have that credit card I gave you?"  
"Only always." She giggled.

"Have I told you I love you lately?" he said, smiling at her.

Bridgett nodded.

"Come on, Coner." Damian said, putting the car in park.

Bridgett and Damian climbed out of the car. Bridgett slid in to the driver seat and Damian opened the side door for Coner.

"Let's go." He said, pulling his little brother out of the car.

Coner groaned and leaned into Damian, his eyes half closed.


	12. Chapter 12

"Where's Coner?" Bridgett asked, as Damian walked into the house.

"He needs to stay at the hospital for a few days. He is dehydrated and has pneumonia. They want to monitor him. Make sure he doesn't die or something." Damian said, shrugging out of his jacket.

Bridgett rolled her eyes. "Don't you have to stay with him though?"

"He's sixteen, he's old enough to stay by himself. But I have you three to take care of too. I'll go check on him till he's out. We can visit him. He should only be there a few days though." Damian said, walking into the kitchen.

"What's for dinner?" Nathan asked walking down the stairs.

Damian opened the fridge, inside was a milk jug with a mouthful of milk left, a shriveled up apple, a box of baking soda and a bottle of wine. Damian let the door shut and opened the freezer; it was completely empty except for a few ice trays.

He walked around the kitchen open the cabinets finding a random can of unwanted vegetables or soup here and there.

"We need to go grocery shopping." Nathan said, sitting on the island next to the stack of six cans. "I'm starving. Can we please go now?"

"Uh, yeah. Go tell Bridgett and have her get Cola ready." Damian said, pulling an envelope out from where it was taped under the cabinets.

It was his parents old rainy day money, the must have had a good seven thousand euros stored away. It was late and he didn't have time to go to the bank, seeing as it was already closed.

He stuffed a thin stack of twenties and tens into his wallet and walked into the living room.

"Let's go." Damian said, picking up his car keys. "This will be a production."

Ten minutes into shopping Damian was exhausted. He forgot how hard it was shopping, let alone with Nathan grabbing everything item of junk food he like, Nicola asking for "aminal" cracker, and Bridgett reminding him that they needed to get "healthy foods" because they were all sick.

"I don't know how Ma didn't lose her mind doing this." Damian muttered reaching into the cart and putting a bag of chips back on the shelf.

"Oh come on!" Nathan whined.

"You already have two bags. That's enough." Damian said, rubbing his eyes.

"She had a list and would feed us before it happened then give them each a Icee, to keep them busy." Bridgett said, putting a loaf of French bread into the cart. "Just be glad Con isn't here. He was the worst. He would grab everything that looked good, and an Icee wouldn't shut him up."

"Ow! Cola. I'm begging you hold you feet still." Damian barked, rubbing his leg where his little sister had kicked him.

"I'm sorry." Nicola said quietly, looking down at the ground. She looked like a puppy who had just been kicked.

Damian opened his mouth to comfort her but didn't. Instead he kept putting things they needed in the cart.

Bridgett and Nathan wandered off to get other things they needed.

"Dame-o. I'm bored. And tired. And hungry." Nicola whined, twenty minutes later. "When are we done?"

"When Nate and Bridge get back we can check out." Damian said, handing Nicola a big sucker from the display.

Nicola smiled widely as Bridgett and Nathan walked back up. Nathan had his hands behind his back. Bridgett was carrying a basket with a bottle of bleach, a few bottles of soap, a box of _Superman_ band-aids, a box of _Hello Kitty_ band-aids, and a blue box of Tampons.

Damian let Bridgett put her things in the cart and turned to his little brother.

"What do you have behind your back?" Damian asked.

"Can I have thirty four euros?" he asked, stepping back when Damian tried to look behind his back.

"Why do you need that much?" Damian asked.

Nathan held out his left wrist. A tennis racket was handcuffed to his wrist.

"…How?" Damian yelled.

"I'd rather not discuss it. So can I have the money or do I need to find a key to these hand cuffs?" Nathan asked.

"Find a key." Damian said, rubbing his eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

"Feeling better now, Coner?" Damian asked as he walked into Coner's room a week later.

Coner had been home fore a few hours. He was better, but still weak.

"Way better." Coner said, hiding what he was looking at under his blanket.

"If it's a naked magazine, I'm fine as it's long as it's not one of mine." Damian joked, walking across the room.

"…You have naked magazines?" Coner asked sitting up.

"Yeah. I keep them at the top of my closet. Shouldn't have told you that." Damian said, sitting on the foot of Coner's bed.

"How'd you get them?" Coner asked.

"I bought them…" Damian said. "Anyway…what'cha got?"

Coner pulled out what he was look at and held it face down to Damian. Damian took the picture frame and flipped it over.

It was a picture of Coner and Mom. They were sitting on the couch. Coner was falling off. Mom was tickling him. They were both laughing. Mom was looking right at the camera, her blue eyes easily seen.

Damian's joking smiled faded.

"You miss her, don't you?" Damian said handing the frame back to his little brother.

Coner set it on the nightstand. He nodded slowly, looking down at his hands.

"I did come in for a reason." Damian said.

"Which was?" Coner hugged his knees to his chest.

"You know Christmas is next week. We'll be touring for Christmas…and a few months after that… You know we don't have much money right now. Seeing as I can't get a job right now because of Celtic Thunder, you and Bridgett should start looking when we get back from tour. Okay?"

Coner nodded. "that isn't why you came though."

"No. We don't have much money, and I can't get much. Is there anything you want?"

"I'm okay. Spend what you were gonna spend on me on Cola or Nate." Coner said, lying down.

Damian nodded and walked out.

* * *

"Nate…Christmas is coming up." Damian said, standing on the bottom step of the basement. "What do you want?"

Nathan was lying in a beanbag chair watching _Lost_ and eating pretzels out of a bowl.

"I want Momma. But since that ain't gonna happen…I'm good. Use the money you were gonna spend on me on someone else okay?" Nathan said, wiping his cheek quickly.

"Nate…" Damian tried.

"I'm fine. Okay?" Nathan said. "I'm fourteen. Leave me some dignity."

"I'll be going to the mall soon. I'll let you know when we're home. Don't fill up on junk. They're leftovers in the fridge. Bye." Damian said, fighting the urge to comfort his little brother.

Once Damian was halfway up the stairs he heard Nathan crying openly.

He shut the door to the basement and went up to Nicola's room.

She was sitting on her bedroom floor surrounded by her doll and stuffed animals.

"Hi-hi, Dame-o." she smiled when she saw her older brother watching her. "Play with me?"

"Sure I can spare a few minutes." Damian sat down and looked over her set up.

She had used her blankets and pillows to make mountains and rivers on her bedroom floor. The animals were all around. Her doll sat under an old milking stool that Nicola kept in the bathroom to reach the sink.

"That's their house." She said, picking up the blonde doll.

"You sure do have a lot of stuffed animals." Damian laughed.

"It's only eighteen." She said, brushing her doll's hair with her fingers.

"Only." Damian laughed.

"I have a boar and a elk and a deer and a badger and a wolf. Then there is the ermine and the fox and the otter and red squirrel and the field mouse." Nicola explained pointing at each stuffed animal as she explained. "That one's a hare, and this is a rabbit. There are different. Daddy said so. I has a gray seal and a owl and goat and a sheep. Those are different too. And I has a horse and a ass over there."

"A donkey. Mommy didn't like Daddy calling it an ass. So stick with donkey." Damian said, looking at the gray animal.

Nicola nodded. "But I don't have a coo. Daddy said he would buy me a coo when we went to the Cliffs. But we never went."

Damian nodded, wondering if it would be a good idea to get her a highland coo. "What would you like for Christmas, Cola?"

Nicola set her doll down and put her first finger in her mouth and scrunched her face up. That was her thinking face. Damian imagined she was going through a long list of toys she wanted.

A few minutes later, Nicola answered.

"I want everyone to be happy." She smiled, like her answer was perfect. "Everyone been really sad, we just need to be happy. That's what I want."

"Got it." Damian said smiling, proud of his baby sister. "Cola, I'm gonna go to the mall with Bridgett for a little while. Coner is in his room and Nathan is down stairs if you need anyone. Don't answer the door, don't go outside. We'll be back in a few hours. If you need me, just have Coner call my cell phone. Bye, baby girl."

* * *

"Bridgett?" Damian asked, standing in the doorway of her room.

"I know, Christmas presents. I don't need anything. Spend my money on Coner or Cola." Bridgett said.

"Okay…will you come shopping with me?" Damian asked.

Bridgett lit up. "I'd like that."

The two climbed into the car and headed to the mall.

"How much do we have for them?" Bridgett asked, pushing her hood off.

"Just over fifty for all of us. Two fifty total." Damian said, pulling his gloves off.

"I have something in mind for Nicola, but it's at the other end of the mall. Can I have like half the money to shop for her and Nathan and meet you back here later?" she asked.

Damian nodded and handed her the money.


	14. Chapter 14

"Say bye to our house, Cola." Damian said, putting the last suitcase in the bus.

"Bye house!" Nicola said from the bus steps. She put her hand to her lips and blew a kiss to the house.

Damian laughed and climbed onto the bus, picking her up.

Coner was sitting in the very back of the bus, staring at their house. Nathan was in a seat behind the other members of Celtic Thunder; Bridget was across the way from him. Damian sat down beside Nathan with Nicola in his lap.

"Let's get a move on." Sharon said, from the front of the bus.

She turned in her seat so she could face everyone as they talked.

When she started talking about the tour and places they would be. Damian zoned out around they getting to the airport.

A few minutes later the mention of Christmas brought Damian back to the conversation.

"Where are we going to be fore Christmas?" Damian asked.

"New York." Paul said from one seat in front of him.

Damian nodded and spaced off again.

* * *

"Come on, lad. It's time to get up." George said, shaking Damian's shoulder.

"Five more minutes, Dad." Damian asked, rubbing his eyes.

"I'll give you two, lad. Then you have to get up." George said.

Damian nodded and dropped his hands into his lap.

"I'm stuck." Nathan said, looking at Damian's long legs blocking his only way out.

"Stand on the seat, I'll help you." George said.

Nathan climbed onto his seat. George put his hands under Nathan's armpits, Nathan put his hands on George's shoulders and George lifted him up. Nathan picked his legs up so he wouldn't kick Damian and stood on the ground.

Nathan sighed as he left go of George.

"What's wrong?" George asked, gently guiding Nathan off the bus.

The rest of Celtic Thunder and Bridgett were loading bags onto dollies.

"You remind me of my dad. He used to do that when I was younger." Nathan smiled.

His smiled quickly faded and he pulled his knit hat down low, so the brim hid his eyes as they filled slowly with tears.

George put his hands on Nathan's shoulders, turned the young teenager around and pulled him into a hug.

Damian woke up a few minutes later and climbed off the bus. Bridgett was holding Nicola. George was holding Nathan. Coner was talking to Keith.

Damian walked over to George.

"Is he okay?" Damian asked nodding at Nathan, who had face hidden by his hood.

"Just a little homesick." George said, rubbing Nathan's back.

"I'll take him." Damian said, putting his hands on Nathan's hips.

"I've got him lad. He doesn't weigh much more then my twelve year old daughter…are you feeding him?"

Damian laughed and put his hands in his coat pockets.

Damian fell to the back of the group. Sharon led the way with Paul and Ryan behind her pushing two of the dollies. Keith and Coner were off to the left, laughing. Keith was pushing the third dolly. Bridgett was walking with Nicola in her arms, next to George and Nathan.

Damian felt a little lost for the first time in since his parents died. Since that day he had always had something to do whether it was the funeral, food, stop someone from crying, or something Celtic Thunder related. It was weird not to have to do anything, or worry about anybody.

* * *

It took an hour and a half to get to their flight. Keith and Paul were in the row across from Coner. George, Bridget and Nicola were in front of Coner and across the isle from Nathan and Damian. In front of them were Sharon and Ryan.

Damian closed her eyes and tired to fall asleep, but once the plane started down the runway Nicola freaked out.

A flight attendant came over and started talking to George. "Sir, will you please control your child. She's disrupting the flight."

"He's not my daddy!" Nicola wailed.

"Where is your daddy?" the flight attendant asked, glaring at George.

"He's dead!" Nicola cried, clutching her doll.

"Then what are you doing on a flight across the sea without your father." She asked.

Damian pried his eyes open and turned to the flight attendant. "She's with me."

"Well, quiet her down. She's disrupting the flight." The attendant said, walking away.

"Cola. You're going to be fine. I promise. We were in more danger driving to the airport." Damian explained to his little sister.

Nicola nodded slowly, obviously still scared. It was the first time the youngest three had been on a plane.

* * *

"Dang we're high up." Nathan said, staring out the window.

The plane hit some turbulence and Nathan's head knocked against the window.

Nathan sat up and leaned into Damian, a little scared.

"We'll be fine, Nate. It happens all the time. It's normal." Damian said, putting his arms around Nathan.

"Damian…" Coner muttered.

"What's up?" Damian replied, trying to keep his eyes open.

"I don't feel too good." Coner moaned quietly.

Damian looked over the edge of the seat. Coner was pale and a thin layer of sweat was on his forehead. He was lying across the row of seats, using his backpack as a pillow. His legs were pulled up because he had such long legs.

"Please don't say your sick again." Damian said, walking back to the isle and kneeling in front of Coner.

He pressed the back of his hand to Coner's forehead; he was a little hot but nothing to be worried about.

"I think you're just air sick." Damian said, pushing Coner's dirty blonde hair out of his eyes. He realized that what his mom used to do when they were sick.

Coner moaned, clutching his stomach.

"You gonna be sick?" Damian asked.

Coner shrugged.

"The bathroom is two rows back. If you're gonna puke, do it there." Damian said standing up. "If you need me, call."

Damian flopped down in his seat and closed his eyes. Nathan leaned into Damian's side and they both fell asleep.

* * *

_Author's note_

_I was just wondering who your favorite character is out of the McGinty kids and what you think they all look like. I don't really know why I wanna know this. I'm just curious._

_And I have another story, it's called Runaways. Damian is one of the stars. (And so is Cameron Mitchell from The Glee Project, if any of you watch that.) I was wondering if you would be intersted in reading it._

_And if you watch The Glee Project/Glee, please tell me. Cause I have a story for that too. And I don't know if you would want to read that, or just Damian stories. And how would you feel about Damian being bi in these two new stories? Yay or nay?_

_So please reaview. Please answer the questions, and tell me if you would read those stories too. Thank you!_

_-Shelby_


	15. Copy Rights, Content information

_This is just an authors note. I was reading my old reviews for this story. I came across one and i realize I have yet to post this._

_I do no own Celtic Thunder, Damian McGinty, George Donaldson, Ryan Kelly, Paul Bryom, Keith Harkin or Sharon Browne._

_But I do own Coner, Bridgett, Nathan, and Nicola. Those are figments of my imagination I created to make the story more intresting. They are not base on Damian's actual brother or sister._

_Damian's parents are alive an well. This story is pure fiction. If it offends you in anyway, shape or form. I apoligize. This is not base of any facts except age and Damian's job._

_I apoligize that I didn't post this on the first chapter. I wrote one, but I forgot to upload it._


	16. Chapter 15

Damian woke up as the plane was landing. Once the plane pulled up to the terminal, Damian grabbed his backpack and followed Sharon up the isle.

They were just outside of New York City. Their tour bus would be waiting for them once they got their bags, to take them to the hotel.

"Coner, why did you change shirts?" he asked his little brother.

"He puked on his self." Nicola laughed, grabbing her pink suitcase.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Damian asked, helping his baby sister.

Coner shrugged and grabbed his hockey duffle bag.

Damian let it go, knowing that Coner didn't want to talk about it.

Once they got all their bags, they headed outside. The sliding doors opened and they were met by a gust of cold wind and three inches of snow.

They loaded the bags onto the bus as quickly as they could so they could get out of the cold.

"They talk funny." Nicola said pointing out the bus window to a group of American's.

"Actually, Cola. We're the ones who talk funny. They are talking how they learned. That's how everyone talks here." Damian explained, brushing the show of Nicola's shoulders.

"No, they talk funny." Nicola said.

Damian nodded and took his coat off.

He walked to his old bunk (first row, left side, middle bunk), pushed the curtain aside and laid down. The mattress was new and he would have to break it in. it looked empty without his bedding, posters and pictures up. The TV was pushed up in the ceiling; the speakers were pushed into the wall by his head. The bed was bare and there was no pillow.

The duffle bag with his travel bedding was in a compartment under the bus, so was his backpack. Until he would have to wait until they were at the hotel to fix up his bed.

Damian used to love touring. A little time away from his parents and siblings, but he always missed them. His mom would call him every night just to talk and as how his day went. Sometime he would take to his dad or Nicola or Bridgett. But no matter what he talked to his mom. He used to wish that they could see what touring was like so when they got home Damian wouldn't have to tell basically the same story over and over again and hear "what was this city like" or "I wish I was there" or "I would have liked something from there."

Now that his siblings were here, he wished they weren't, because if they weren't here, they would be home with Mom and Dad.

Tears filled Damian's eyes. He wiped them away and sat up, whacking his head on the top of his bunk.

"Ow, fuck." Damian muttered, forgetting how much that hurt when it happened.

"No swear!" Nicola yelled from wherever she was.

The bus slowed to a stop and he slid out of his bunk.

* * *

"Damian." Nathan whispered that night.

"You're supposed to be asleep." Damian said from the living room.

Damian had connecting rooms. Bridgett, Nicola and Coner were in one room. Nathan and Damian were in the other. Each room had a bedroom with two beds, a living room, and a bathroom.

"Damian?" he said again, his voice shaking.

Damian pushed himself off the couch, leaving his confusing schoolwork and walked into the bedroom.

"What's up?" Damian asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"In the original comics Superman couldn't fly." He said, from under the covers.

"Okay…Nathan, what's going on?" Damian asked, sitting down on the bed by his brother.

"I'm lost…I don't know where I am…I look around and I see things I've never seen before…I can't see you on the street, and I freak out." Nathan said, curling into a ball. "Damian, I don't like it here. I wanna go back to Derry, where I know where everything is…"

Damian stared at the lump that was Nathan, trying to think of something to say.

"You don't have to say anything comforting…I know you can't think of anything." Nathan said, rolling over under the covers. "I'll do it for you. Stuck it up. There is no one to send you home to. You're just going to have to deal with it just like everyone else. I'm sorry, but that's how it's gonna be."

"Nathan." Damian sighed, putting his hand on his little brother.

"No…just leave me alone." Nathan said, pushing Damian away.

"No." Damian said, pulling the covers off Nathan.

Nathan was lying on his side facing Damian, curled into a ball. His face was red, his nose was running and he was crying. Damian thought it was a little weird seeing his little brother without his glasses, since he had had glasses since he was seven.

Damian laid down next to him and pulled him into a hug.

"Nathan, I know I can't send you home." Damian said rubbing Nathan's back. "But, I will try my hardest to make touring feel like home."

"You promise?" Nathan asked.

"Yes, I promise." Damian said, kissing the top of his head.


	17. Chapter 16

Once Nathan was sleep, Damian went back to his homework. It took him an hour and he had barely finished his math. He yawned and looked at his watch. It was a little after two. Damian groaned and dropped his Gaelic textbook on the table.

He staggered into the bedroom and changed into his pajamas. He crawled under his covers and tossed and turned trying to fall asleep.

He flipped his pillow to the cold side and buried the side of his face in it. He stared out the window. The sky was dark, but he couldn't see anything because of all the New York lights. Even in the dead of night the city was awake. They were on the seventeenth floor of the hotel, too high up to hear the sounds of the city to be heard.

The only sounds Damian heard were Nathan moving in his sleep, no doubt having a nightmare, Coner snoring a little louder then usual because he was still a little sick with the ailment he could not shake, and a the bed banging against the wall, courtesy of the couple next door to Damian's room. Every now and again he would hear her say something, or him grunt loudly, or her scream.

Damian put a second pillow of his head, but he could still hear them. He fished around in his backpack and pulled out his iPod. He put the white buds in his ears and turned the song up. the song ended instantly and the one that came on next was "Are You Lonesome Tonight" by Elvis Presley.

The song rolled to the part where Elvis started talking and hit Damian in the gut. Tears welled in his eyes and he couldn't do anything to stop them.

His thoughts were jerked back violently to when he was sixteen. He was in love, and just about to go on a second tour with Celtic Thunder. He hated saying good-bye to his girlfriend of three years, Jenna. She seemed sad, but not nearly as sad as Damian was, but he didn't think anything of it. He kissed her good-bye, wishing he could stay with her, and boarded the airplane.

The tour was a long one, September to January. Damian talked to Jenna on the phone as often as he could. She would always joke that when he called it was always late for him and around the time she woke up. She would always end the conversation by tucking him in and they would say, "I love you."

Damian got back from touring and on his walk over to Jenna's he ran into one of his best mates, Jamie. Jamie told him that he sat Jenna with Steven at the movies, and they weren't watching they were kissing.

Damian was heart broken. He went over to Jenna's and confronted her about it. Jenna was upset, and started crying, but she didn't deny it. Damian left without a goodbye.

Damian changed the song, a Michael Buble song came on, but Damian couldn't stop crying.

Damian pushed himself up and sat criss cross, like a child. He tried a lot of things to stop crying, thinking about fun time he had had with his mates, about funny movies or TV shows. When that didn't work, he gave into it, letting this new side of him take over.

When he cried his last tear, the pillow that sat in his lap was damp from falling tears and twenty minutes had gone by.

Damian wiped his nose on the back of his hand and laid down, feeling weak and exhausted. He pulled the covers tight around himself and started to fall asleep.

Right before sleep consumed him, he realized something. He wasn't over Jenna yet, even though two years had passed.

* * *

"Damian, wake up." Nicola yelled, jumping on his bed.

Damian groaned, not waiting to wake up. He wanted to push Nicola off his bed and yell for Mom to come get her. He had his hand out of the covers and only inches away from Nicola's stomach when he remembered that their mother was buried six feet under froze dirt in Ireland.

Damian brought his hand back into the warmth of the bedding and opened his eyes to look at Nicola. She was sitting at the foot of his bed.

His dream was still going on and it was hard to figure what was really going on.

His hand was between his thighs, as it always was as he slept. He moved his arm, noting that it was asleep. He pulled his hands out from between his thighs and his tingling hand brushed against his hard cock.

"Shit." Damian said, pushing his hand against it.

He ignored the feeling of pins and needles and tired to hide his hard on.

"Come on, Coner and Nate are already down there. Me and Bidgett is waiting for you." Nicola said.

"Go on without me. I need a quick shower. I'll be down in a few." He groaned.

"Kay." Nicola said, climbing off his bed.

Damian heard the door close and rolled onto his back. He pushed his covers down to his waist and put his hands on his stomach. He recalled his dream.

It was him and his old girlfriend Jenna. Damian's parents had taken his little siblings to the carnival. Jenna had come over because her parents took her little sisters to the carnival and she didn't want to go. They started watching a movie. Before the movie hit the halfway mark, Damian was carrying her up to his room. She had ridden him that time.

"Fuck me!" Damian yelled, wishing someone would.

Damian needed it to go away, he tired every trick in the book. Thinking about his parents in bed together, the stress he was under, his gram naked, the holocaust, a dead puppy, a really hard math problem. He figured out the answer to that problem, but the one down was harder.

He tired holding his breath, but all that did was making his a little dizzy. He thought about when he was younger his babysitter would whoop his bottom with a ruler, but that just turned him on more.

He thought back to his eighth year history class. That teacher was so boring. He usually focused on Holly Jamison during that class. She was different then most of the other girls in his class. She was more developed in the chest area. It was obvious she wasn't used to them yet either, because she had her hands on her chest a lot, and would jerk them away when she realized what she was doing. It rained the day she wore a white t-shirt, and her bra had no padding.

"Fuck!" Damian screamed throwing that thought away. "You just won't go away will you?"

Damian did not want to have to do it this way, especially with his little siblings wandering around. They could easily walk in on him. Granted, Coner had walked in on him before. But what if it was Nathan, or Bridgett, or Nicola, little Cola.

"Fuck." Damian sighed.

He licked his palm and slid his hand into his pants.

* * *

_Author's note. Okay, I know this is going from T to M for sexual content, and I'm sorry if I offended you in anyway mentioning it. But, you would like more of M rated Damian stories, or me to continue with this ^ train of thought let me know. And if you don't want me to continue with this ^ train of though and skip ahead to them on the streets let me know. Thanks._

_-Shelby_


	18. Chapter 17

Bridgett walked into her hotel room. Damian was sitting on the couch wearing low hanging jeans and a pair of red boxers with his bare feet resting on the coffee table. His hair was wet and he was hunched over a textbook, iPod in his ears.

"Hey." She said, pulling the coffee out.

Damian fell forward. He looked up and pulled out his earbuds.

"You weren't at breakfast. I was getting worried." Bridgett said, sitting down beside him.

"Yeah, I took a shower and realized I had a lot of homework that I needed to get done…I'll just eat later." He said, scribbling in a notebook. "Where's everyone else?"

"Arcade." Bridgett said. "You need to come relax. We're having a lot of fun in the arcade. A lot of games they don't have in Ireland. Nathan's even smiling. And Coner's laughing."

"I'll be down in a few." Damian said. "Lemme get dressed and we can go see New York."

"Okay. Be quick." She said, walking out of the room.

Damian nodded and rested his head on the back of the couch.

He pushed the books out of his lap and pulled on socks, shoes, and a white beater, a t-shirt his gray hoodie and grabbed his coat. He slipped a card key into his wallet and headed out the door.

Damian walked into the arcade. Nicola was standing on a chair playing Pac-Man with Bridgett. Damian looked along the wall and saw Nathan and Coner shooting basketballs, both laughing.

"Anybody wanna see New York?" Damian asked.

"I do!" Nicola screamed jumping off the chair.

"Let's go." Damian said.

Everyone pulled on their jackets and followed Damian.

"Where do you wanna go?" Damian asked, picking Nicola up.

"I wanna go see the Empire State building." Coner said. "I wanna know what it feels like to be on top of the world."

* * *

"That's a big building!" Nicola yelled staring up the side of the building.

"It's one hundred and two floors." Damian explained. "It takes less then two minutes to get to the top."

"Damie…do I have to go?" Bridgett asked.

"Yeah. You're a pretty little Irish girl…I'm not leaving you alone." Damian said, wrapping his free arm around his sister.

They got into the elevator, which had a lot of other people in it.

Bridgett held tight to Damian, as the elevator started moving. Nicola started wandering around people's legs.

"Cola, get back here." Coner said grabbing one of her pigtails and pulling her back towards them.

"Owie." Nicola kicked Coner in the shin.

"Ah. Dammit, Cola." Coner said, clutching his shin and bending over.

Damian heard someone near by muttered, "Where are their parents?"

"For your information their parents are dead." Damian said as the elevator stopped.

The woman's cheeks turned red and she exited the elevator.

Damian picked Nicola up and held her, feeling the stares from the other people in the elevator as they headed up to the top floor.

Bridgett released her death grip on Damian once they were out of the elevator.

"I wanna go look outside." Coner said, tugging on Damian's arm.

The McGinty kids walked outside and over looked the city. Coner walked up to the fence and stood on the ledge.

"I'm the king of the world!" he yelled.

"Coner, be careful. It's a long way down." Nicola said, standing on the observation binoculars.

Nathan walked up to the ledge and stood by Coner. He looked down and stumbled back a few steps. He flopped down hard on the bench. Damian took note of this.

"Nathan, yari?" he asked, putting a quarter into the machine for Nicola.

"I don't feel too good." Nathan said, closing his eyes and leaning forward.

"What's wrong?" Damian knelt in front of his little brother.

"I'm about to throw up," he said, rubbing his forehead.

"Nathan, I think you just suffer from vertigo." Damian said, feeling Nathan's forehead.

"What's that?" Damian asked.

"You get dizzy and nauseous from high places. It's an extreme fear of heights." Damian explained.

"So, I'm not gonna throw up?"

"Eh, you might. It all depends."

Nathan whined and laid down on the bench.

"Take some deep breaths and try to think about something else. Okay? We'll go down in a few." Damian said.

Nathan nodded.

"Damian, I wanna go down too…I don't like being this high up. It's scary." Bridgett said.

"Yet you're fine with flying." Coner said, looking through the binoculars.

"That's different, wean." Bridgett snapped.

"I am not a child!" Coner yelled.

"You coulda fooled me." she retorted.

"Piss off, quim." He screamed.

"Devalve! You're doing me head in. and you're acting like waayins." Damian said, stepping between them. "Wise up. Because I'm not putting up with this until we get home. Got it?"

"Aye." Coner said, his hands in tight fists.

Bridgett nodded.

"Now let's go." Damian said, picking Nicola up. "Let's go, Nathan."

The ride down to the ground floor was awkward. Bridgett and Coner stood on either side of Damian. Nathan leaned against Damian's back, still feeling sick. Bridgett was trembling the whole way down, but scared to ask Damian for comfort.

When they got outside, Damian pulled them away from the doors. He pushed Bridgett and Coner against the side of the building.

"Look, I don't wanna…I don't wanna be like Dad, okay?" Damian said, setting Nicola on the ground.

"What was wrong with Daddy?" Nicola asked.

"Nothing. Go sit by Nathan." Damian said, pushing Nicola toward the bench a few feet away. "I don't wanna yell you. I'm not Dad. I'm not Mom. I'm your big brother. I shouldn't have to yell at you to stop acting like waayins. But with Mom and Dad gone, I have to. And I don't like to. So don't make me. I know you both are better than that. I know you aren't the best of friend, but you are family. Touring is different than at home. At home you can just go to separate rooms. You can't do that here. So, please try to get along. I don't want to yell. I don't want to be Dad. I just want to be your brother…Know-what-a-me?"

The two nodded and looked down at the ground.

"Come here." He held out his arms. His little siblings walked into them. "Please don't make me do that again."

"Got it." Bridgett said.

"Aye." Coner said.

"Let's go." Damian said, pulling away.

Damian picked up Nicola and took Nathan's hand and headed down the busy streets of New York.

"Damian, what's that?" Nathan asked, pointing up a head.

They walked closer and saw a huge empty space in the block. A few canes were here and there.

"What is it?" Nathan asked.

"It's Ground Zero, Nathan." Damian said, putting his arm around his little brother's shoulders.

"What's that?" Coner asked.

"The World Trade Center used to be here, until September of two thousand one." Damian started.

"What happened in September?" Nathan asked, looking up at Damian.

"The Towers were attacked. Around eight thirty, eight forty in the morning on September eleventh, a plane was flown into one of the towers. Around nine a second plane was flown into the other tower. Both towers collapsed 'bout an hour or so later." Damian explained.

"Why would someone do that?" Bridgett asked, stepping closer to Damian.

"Not all people are nice, Bridge. And America is a very powerful country. The people who hijacked those planes were terrorists. They don't like America and wanted to hurt this nation." He said.

"So they crashed some planes into some buildings?" Coner asked.

"The World Trade Center were very important buildings. A lot of people worked and went to the buildings daily. Important things went on. The terrorists thought that attacking the towers would scare America, and it did." Damian said.

"Who did it?" Bridgett asked.

"Bad people, baby girl. That's all I know about who did it." Damian said.

"It's eerie. Can move on?" Nathan asked.

Damian nodded and started walking again.

Damian took them to them to the pier and they boarded a ferry.

"Where are we going?" Coner asked, standing at the railing.

"Just around the harbor. I wanna show you something." Damian said, leaning against the railing.

"Dame-o look!" Nicola yelled, pointing.

"That's what I wanted to show you. That's the Statue of Liberty." Damian said.

"Why is it green?" Nathan asked.

"She looks more blue then green." Bridgett said.

"She's made out of copper, over the years she been her that water and rain have reacted with the copper and turned her green-blue." Damian explained.

"How old is she?" Nathan asked.

"She is about one hundred twenty five." Damian said.

"Wow." Nathan whispered.

"How'd she get here?" Nicola asked, tugging on Damian's sleeve.

"She was a gift from France in eighteen eighty six." Damian said, picking her up.

"Why did France give America a statue?" Coner asked.

"Out of friendship." Damian explained.

The kids were quiet for a while, as they got closer.

"Wow, she's really big." Nicola said.

"She's about thirty four meters from head to feet." Damian said.

"Can we go inside her?" Coner asked.

"No. I don't wanna go inside. It's to high." Nathan said, leaning into Damian.

"We can't go inside. She's too old. They are going to do some construction inside of her so people can go in her again." Damian said.

"Can we go on the isle and get closer?" Bridgett asked.

"Not today. It's going to rain soon, and this ferry isn't stopping. We're just going around for a little while."

"What's that isle?" Coner asked, pointing at an island they were nearing.

"That's Ellis Island."

"A whole isle for my friend Ellis!" Nicola exclaimed.

"…No." Damian laughed. "Ellis Island was an isle where people who were coming to America to live from other places would go first. To make sure they were healthy and could come to America."

"Where did the people come from?" Nathan asked.

"Everywhere. Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Italy, mainly Europe though."

"Why didn't we go there?" Nicola asked.

"It's been closed for years, Nicola. People don't need to go through Ellis Isle to come to America now." Damian said as it started raining.

Damian ushered his siblings inside.

They went down a deck and sat down as a booth.

"Damian, I'm tired. Can we go back to the hotel?" Nathan yawned.

"That's where we'll head once we get back to shore." Damian said, letting Nathan lean into him.

"When did you become Mom?" Bridgett asked from where she sat across the table.

"What do you mean?" Damian asked, leaning against the wall.

"You were teaching us at every opportunity. Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Isle." Bridgett smirked.

"When I came to New York a few years ago, that's what Paul did to me. And I guess I'm like mom in that aspect." Damian laughed.

* * *

_Author's note._

_As you can see Coner, Damian and Bridgett had a little argument with some Irish slang. Incase you don't understand here's the translation._

_"That's different, wean(child) ." Bridgett snapped._

_"I am not a child!" Coner yelled._

_"You coulda fooled me." she retorted._

_"Piss off, quim (Fuck off, cunt)." He screamed._

_"Devalve (be quiet)! You're doing me head in (You're giving me a headache). And you're acting like waayins (children)." Damian said, stepping between them. "Wise up (grow up/be sensivle). Because I'm not putting up with this until we get home. Got it?"_

_"Aye (yes)." Coner said, his hands in tight fists._

_Bridgett nodded._

_There you go if you didn't understand a part of it. I hope you liked it. Sorry for the little history lesson, it kind of wrote itself. This story has been doing that. Like with Damian in the last chapter. I didn't plan it. lol. Please review._

_-Shelby_


	19. Chapter 18

"I'm back." Damian said, walking into the hotel room.

"How was the concert?" Bridgett asked.

She was sitting on the couch in her room watching TV.

"First one's always the best." He said, dropping his backpack on the table and sitting down next to her. "How were they?"

"Nicola was a little fussy about being stuck in the hotel room so I took her and Nathan down to the pool." Bridgett yawned. "Nathan is in bed, I doubt he's asleep though. Nicola is asleep."

"And Coner?" Damian asked, kicking his shoes off.

"I think he's on the roof. He left a little while ago with a card key and his coat. He wasn't wearing shoes though. Just socks. So…check the roof. If he ain't there. Call his cell." Bridgett shrugged crawling into bed next to Nicola.

Damian grabbed his coat off the table and headed out of the hotel room.

Damian stepped on to the roof, the cement cold under her socked feet. Coner was leaning against the edge off the roof.

"What are you doing?" Damian asked, walking over to his little brother.

"Dropping crap on people." He said, throwing an egg off the building.

"Why?" Damian asked taking the water balloon out of his brother's hand. "Where did you get this shit anyway?"

"I have my ways. The eggs I stole from the kitchen. I always have water balloons on me." Coner laughed, taking the water balloon backpack and chucking it.

It landed on a taxicab. Coner laughed.

"Why are you doing this?" Damian asked, dropping an egg off the building.

"It pleases me." he said, dropping an egg. It landed on someone's. The person screamed and looked up. Coner leaned back, pulling Damian with him.

"You've always been a prankster." Damian said, hoping Coner didn't plan on pranking during tour.

"I suitcase full of my jokes. I promise to leave Nicola alone. That all I promise." He said. "This is just for entertainment."

"Are you all right?" Damian asked.

"I think I broke my pinky earlier." Coner said, showing Damian his slightly swollen finger.

"I think it's just jammed. Lemme see." Damian said. He ran his fingers over Coner's. "It's just jammed. I can fix that. On three take a deep breath. One, two—"

Damian yanked Coner's finger. His little brother screamed.

"What the hell was that!"

"Dad did to do it to me during soccer season when I used play goalie. I would get my fingers jammed all the time. That's how you fix it." Damian explained.

"Ow." Coner said, tossing an egg at his brother.

Damian caught the egg before it broke.

"Other then you're finger, are you okay?"

Coner shrugged. "I wish I was in back in Ireland…better joke shops. We wandered around the city didn't see one. I hope we come across some soon. I don't have enough for the whole tour."

"I hope we don't come across any. That's the last thing we need is a infamous Coner McGinty prank." Damian laughed, hugging his little brother. "It's almost midnight. Let's get to bed."

Coner dumped the rest of the eggs off the side of the building and laughed as they hit people. He picked up his backpack and headed for the door.

"You coming?" Coner asked.

Damian nodded and ran after his brother.

* * *

Ring-Ring…Ring-Ring…Ring-Ring…

"_Where is the phone?" Damian screamed, running into the kitchen._

"_Check the freezer!" Coner yelled from the basement._

_Damian opened the freezer and picked up the TV remote. He chucked it into the living room and picked the phone up from the top of the fridge._

"_What? Who is this? What do you want?" Damian asked, bitterly._

"_Is this Damian McGinty Jr.?" a young woman asked._

"_Possibly? I am in trouble?" Damian asked, shutting the freezer._

"_No. You're not in trouble," she said. "Are you the oldest child of Damian and Lynda?"_

"_Yeah." He said, scratching the back of his neck._

"_You're parents were in a car crash about an hour ago." She said._

_Damian's heart sped up and he put his hand on the fridge for support. His parents were probably hurt and he was going to have to be taking care of the kids for more then one night. Joy._

"_They were hit by a rather large truck that ran a red light. It hit the passenger side of the car. You're mother died upon impact."_

_The breath caught in Damian's throat and the world stopped. His heart sped up, his palms got clammy and his heart sped up._

"_What about Dad?" Damian asked, his voice involuntarily cracking._

"_He hit his head rather hard on the steering wheel and the window. They tried their hardest, but he passed away too. We need you to come to the hospital and sign some papers. It would be best if you didn't bring your siblings."_

_Damian nodded and the phone slipped from his hand._

_Damian fell to his knees as uncontrollable, body wrenching sobs escaped through his lips. He pressed his hands against his forehead as he cried._

_Footsteps were heard running through the house._

_Damian could feel all of his siblings staring at him._

"_Damian, what's wrong?" Nathan asked, his voice quiet._

_Damian couldn't answer. He could barely get a breath in with all the sobs._

"_Damian. Stop." Bridgett said, shaking him. "Stop! You're scaring me!"_

* * *

_It was Coner who noticed the phone on the floor. He picked it up and put it to his ear. A girl was talking on the other end, telling which hospital Damian needed to go to._

_It took ten minutes for Damian to get his sobs under control._

"_Nathan…" Damian said, trying to catch his breath. "Take-take Cola upstairs…and stay with her…I-I need to talk to…uhm. Con-Coner and Bridgett a-alone for a second."_

"_Come on, Nikki." He said._

_Damian waited until he heard footsteps above him before he sat up. Coner was sitting on the counter in front of him. Bridgett was sitting beside him. She pulled a red towel off the handle on the stove and held it out to Damian. He took it and mopped up his face. Tears still ran down his red cheeks._

"_What the bloody hell is going on?" Coner asked through clenched teeth._

"_Don't clench your teeth. It's bad for your braces." Damian muttered._

"_Damian, what is going on?" Bridgett asked._

_Damian opened his mouth to tell them but he started crying again._

* * *

_Bridgett took the piece of tear soaked paper from Damian and tried to make out the chicken scratch that was Damian's handwriting._

"_Mom and Dad…are…dead?" Bridgett asked._

_Damian nodded._

* * *

"_Is that them?" the doctor asked after he pulled two tables out of the freezer._

_Damian looked at the faces on the cold metal tables. He gingerly touched his mother's lifeless cheek. It was still slightly warm. Her once beautifully styled black hair was now a matted mess full of blood. She had a gash on her forehead, and her blue eyes were closed once and for all._

_Damian pushed the sheet down further to get a better look at her. Her left arm was crushed and mangled. Damian pulled the rings off her fingers and slid them into his pocket. He looked at the two chains around her neck. The charms were resting against the table. One was a sliver locker they held pictures off all of the kids, the other was a blue sapphire, it matched her eyes perfectly. Damian held the heart shaped locket in his fist, his knuckles grazing against his mother's skin. His mother never took the heart shaped locket off, no matter what she wore, no matter where she went; she always wore the locket. She had once told Damian over the phone when he was on tour it was her way of keeping all her kids with her even if she was far away from them._

"_You're gonna need it now more then ever Mum." He said before he tucked it into the front of her black dress._

_Damian spotted a crushed butterfly clip in her hair. Bridgett had given it to her when she was seven. She had saved all her allowance and gotten it for her mother for her birthday. Their mom had cried when she opened it, knowing it wasn't cheap. She wore it on special occasions only._

_Damian gently took the clip out of her hair and put it in his leather jacket pocket._

_Around her wrist was a sliver bracelet that Coner had given her when he was fourteen._

_These are things Damian didn't notice when she had gone out that night. He was a little mad at her for making him baby sit on a Saturday night. He had wanted to go out with his friends and tired to convince his parents to let Bridgett baby-sit. But his parents were firm saying it was hard to keep Coner under control._

_He had turned his cheek when she went to kiss him. He still had the lipstick on his cheek from her kiss; he never bothered to wash it off._

"_I'm sorry Mum. I am." Damian said, noticing a third necklace she was wearing._

_This is one that she had worn since before Damian was born. It was a long sliver chain with a Celtic cross handing from in. in the middle of the cross was a small emerald. Damian unlatched the necklace and slid it into his jeans pocket, feeling like he was stealing from his mother._

"_I love you, Mum." He said, leaning down and kissing her gently on the lips. "I shouldn't have been an arse when you asked me to baby sit. I should have let you kiss me goodbye. I'm sorry I didn't."_

_Tears poured down Damian's cheeks. He wanted so badly for his mother to brush them away._

_He kissed his mom again and walked over to his father._

"_Hello sir." He said, looking down at a bruised yet familiar face that used to strike fear into Damian no matter how old he got._

_Damian noticed for the first time his father wore two rings. A golden wedding band and a silver army ring from some war in the eighties before Damian was born._

"_I know you'll probably want to be buried with this, Da. And I'm sorry for doing this." Damian said as he took his father's hand._

_He put his fingers on the cold silver and pulled it off his dad's finger. He slipped the ring into his pocket with his mum's cross._

"_I guess I'm aloud to say this now…I love you, Dad. I respect you. I fear you." He smiled through his tears, only for a brief second. "Dad, you used to scare the shit out of me. I'm sorry I didn't turn out more like you like you had wanted. I know some part of you is proud of me. Proud that I'm happy and I have a career and that I'm going to university and I haven't gotten any girl pregnant yet."_

_Tears streamed down his cheeks and splashed on his father's blood stained blue button up._

"_I'm gonna miss you, Dad."_

_He kissed his father on the cheek and headed out to his car, clutching his father's ring and his mother's cross for dear life._

* * *

_Damian got home and the house was quiet. He expected to hear more crying. But it was totally silent. He had told Nicola and Nathan what happened before he went to the hospital._

_He locked the front door and checked on the kids. Nicola was clutching stuffed animals. Bridgett was buried deep in her blankets. Nathan was asleep on the floor, fallen off his bed. Damian gently placed him back in his bed. Coner's bed was empty. But Damian could see there was a light on in the tree house from Coner's window._

_Damian went to his room and changed into his pajamas._

_He walked down the hall and fell asleep outside his parents' door._

* * *

"Damian. Wake up. I'm hungry." Nathan said shaking him.

Damian sat up and wiped the drool from the side of his face. He was lying on the couch still in his jeans, hoodie, polo and leather jacket.

"Go downstairs for breakfast." Damian yawned, lying back down.

"It's ten. Breakfast is over. Take us to a New York place for breakfast." Nathan said, kicking the couch.

"Fine. Let me change and we'll go." Damian sighed, sitting up.

Nathan leaned down and hugged his big brother, taking him off guard.

"What was that for?" Damian asked, hugging back.

"You looked like you needed a hug." Nathan said standing up.

Damian smiled and walked into the bathroom.

* * *

_Author's note_

_A long over due chapter. So I wrote a lot. I hope you like it. I cried a little writing this. the story line and Damian singing _Falling Slowly _and _Are You Lonesome Tonight_ got to me I guess._

_I hope you like it because I spent a lot of time on it._

_Oh, and I have posted some new stories. Two Harry Potters and a Harry Potter/Glee Project cross over. Main foucing being Damian, Cameron, Lindsey and Marissa. If you want to, go check them out. They are pretty good, I think._

_Thanks._

_- Shelby_


	20. Chapter 19

"Damian. I want to go home." Bridgett complained.

Celtic Thunder was doing a sound check for the show later tonight. Coner and Nathan was playing soccer backstage. Nicola was being silly with Charlie, the girl who sang angrily at Keith, backstage.

Damian jumped off the stage and walked over to his little sister.

"I know. Only a few more stops, then back home." He said, hugging her.

"You said that last time." She snapped, pushing him away. "And that was weeks ago."

"I know, Bridge. I can tell time, and keep track of things." He said, trying to keep his cool.

"Really? I couldn't tell. Damian, we've been on tour for a long time. I'm not used to this. I'm used to you leaving. But I don't like it! I want you and me and Coner and Nathan and Cola back home! With Mom and Dad!" she yelled, a lone tear running down her cheek.

That hit a raw nerve for him.

"You know how much I want that too? A lot! But, I'm sorry, Bridgett! That's not gonna happen! Mom and Dad are dead! And they're not coming back." He said, a few tears of his own falling. He quickly brushed them away.

"You could at least make it seem like home!" she sobbed, wiping her cheek.

Something in the back of Damian's head snapped and he couldn't stop himself.

"I've been trying! But, this is my job! I have to rehearse, and that takes a lot of time for a two hour set! You have to realize that this is no picnic for me either! I have to work, learn new songs, learn the choreography, work on my studies, watch after you guys, and run on very little sleep, because I'm usually trying to comfort one of you, when all I wanna do is go to my room and cry! I haven't cried once since Mom and Dad died! And it's really hard seeing all of you cry, and I can't! One of has to be strong, and all of you turn to me! I wish I could sleep in my own room, but once I finally get you calmed down, Coner talked to, Nicola and Nathan asleep, Nathan usually has a nightmare, or Cola starts crying, maybe even you or Coner and you won't let me leave, because you're used to Mommy staying with all night! You know how bad I wish I could wake up screaming and have someone run in for me!"

Bridgett didn't answer.

"Do you?"

"I'm guessing a lot." She said, through her teeth.

"More then you think. I have nightmares all the time about Mom and Dad and that Fucking Car Crash! And all of you crying, and I just don't have enough time to care about myself! I'm to busy trying to make sure that you guys are okay! I wish things could go back to normal! Mom and Dad and you and Coner and Nathan and Cola and me sitting in the living room watching some stupid movie we fought over. But, that's not gonna happen! Bridge, it's been months. I wanna cry about it. But if I do, you will freak out. Because I'm not supposed to cry. It feels like I have the weigh of the world on my shoulders. And I can't hold on any longer! So, I would really appreciate if you would shut your mouth and deal with it, like everyone else!"

Bridgett started bawling.

Damian ran his fingers though his hair, fighting the tears in his own eyes. He closed his eyes tight, trying to stop the tears.

"I hate you." She said, running out of the arena.

Damian opened his eyes for a second, to catch a glimpse reddish brown hair as she turned a sharp corner and left his sight.

* * *

"Can I get you anything?" the bartender asked, standing in front of Damian.

Damian looked up and shook his head. There were only a few other people in the pub. A couple in their late twenties sitting in a booth away from everybody else, a woman, probably barely twenty one sitting at a tall table with two other women drinking pink drinks, and a man sitting a few stools down from him drinking a beer. He was tall and skinny, but his there was some muscle somewhere under there. His black and blonde streaked hair was messy, his glasses were nerdy and he looked barely twenty-one.

Damian rested his head on his hand and looked down at the dark wood of the bar. He wished he were back in Derry at the pub with his friends getting drunk.

He felt someone sit down next to him and looked up.

The man had moved down next to him. His eyes were fixed on the TV screen, but Damian could tell his focus was on him.

"Can I help you?" Damian asked.

The man turned to him.

"You look like you've had a hard night. You are not old enough to drink otherwise you would be." He said. "And you accent, I'm guessing Scotland?"

"Ireland." Damian clarified.

"I'm Gabriel. Gabriel Lupin." He said, holding out his hand.

His fingers were long and skinny. Piano player's hands.

Damian wondered if he played as he shook his hand.

"Damian McGinty." he said.

Gabriel pushed his beer to in front of Damian. It was almost full. "It's Guinness."

Damian looked from the glass of dark beer to Gabriel.

"You look like you've hard a hard night, so bottoms up and start talking." Gabriel smiled, his green eyes shining.

Damian wrapped his fingers around the glass and dark deeply.

"Now, talk." Gabriel said.

He set the glass on the table and told him the just of what was going on.

Half an hour later Damian had downed three and a half pints of Guinness and finished telling his story.

"So, you're raising four kids just being a kid yourself with not much help. And now you're tour, something the kids have never done before, with your group." Gabriel said, finishing off his first pint.

He nodded and finished the rest of his beer. "Now, what's your story?"

"What do you mean?" Gabriel asked, signaling for the bartender to bring two more beers.

"Why did you come up to some random kid in a pub and ask him what's wrong? And why are you at the pub in the first place?" he asked, his words slightly slurred.

The bartender set two glasses in front of the boys and took the empty ones away. He didn't say a word about Damian's age.

"Well, my girlfriend dumped me because she's not cool with me being bi. We were together for about six months. Kind hurt. That's why I'm here. Why I approached you? Well for one, you're pretty cute. Don't take that the wrong way though. And you just looked like you needed someone to talk to." he explained, sipping his beer.

"So I shouldn't take that as a come on?" he asked, taking a drink.

"Not unless you want to." Gabriel smirked.

"You're all right for a York." Damian smiled.

"And you're all right for a drunken potato farmer." he smiled, raising his glass at Damian.

"I'm not a potato farmer…as for drunk…I can't deny that. I am." He said, finishing off his fourth pint.

His phone started blaring from his coat on the barstool next to him. Damian fumbled as he pulled his phone out and hit talk.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Damian Joseph McGinty. It is two in the morning. Where the hell are you?" Bridgett demanded.

Damian looked at his watch. "Huh, it is two…I'm at a pub."

"Are you drunk?" she barked.

"Aye." Damian said, scratching his forehead.

"Just…just get back to the hotel." Bridgett said, hanging up.

Damian hit end and grabbed Gabriel's beer. He downed the whole pint in one gulp.

He slid his phone in his pocket and stood up. The floor rocked under him and he sat back down.

"Oh boy." Gabriel said. "Guess, I'm taking you back to your hotel."

"Thank you." Damian said letting Gabriel put his coat on him.

Gabriel nodded and pulled his coat on. He put Damian's arm around his shoulders and gripped his hand. He put his other arm under his armpits and pulled him to his feet.

Gabriel had at least two inches on Damian.

"You don't drink very often do you?" he asked, as they walked out into the night air.

"I'm eighteen. I just started. Been drunker then this before though." he said, supporting about half of his weight.

"When?" he asked, letting go of Damian's wrist to hail a cab.

"Right after me parents died. Me and a few of my mates went to a local pub and I got plastered. I don't remember most of the night." he said, his words slurred.

Gabriel put him into the cab. Damian told the cabbie where his hotel was and leaned into Gabriel as they pulled away from the curb.

"Damian?" Gabriel asked.

"Hmm?" Was his response.

"Do you need me to stay with you tonight? Help with the drunkenness and the kids and tomorrow's hangover?"

"If you don't mind." he mumbled.

The cabbie pulled in front of the hotel. Gabriel paid the man and helped Damian out of the car.

"What room?" he asked, hitting the elevator button with his knee.

Damian muttered his response twice before Gabriel understood him.

Gabriel didn't want to go digging around in Damian's pockets to find the card key so he kicked on the door, hoping that one of the older two would be awake.

A girl opened the door.

"Bridgett?" Gabriel guessed.

"Yes. Stranger. Why do you have my brother?" she asked.

"I'm a friend. Damian is a little…" he looked at Damian. "I'm gonna stay the night, help you with him and the others. Is that okay?"

Bridgett nodded.

"Bring him in. The empty bed."

Gabriel helped Damian into the hotel room and onto the far bed.

Bridgett picked Nathan up, with a little struggle and carried him into the other room.

Bridgett walked back into Damian's room. Gabriel was kneeling on the bed undressing Damian, without much help from the drunken teen.

"Do you want his pajamas? Or help?" Bridgett asked, walking over.

"Just his pajama pants and a little help." Gabriel said.

* * *

"If the younger two, Coner and Nicole, right?" Gabriel asked leaning against the wall.

"Nathan and Nicol_a_." Bridgett clarified.

"Yeah, them. Nathan's the sensitive one, right?"

Bridgett nodded.

"If they ask, I'm an old friend and Damian is sick. You should go to sleep. I'll watch him. But first, where's a garbage can before he pukes on the floor." Gabriel said.

Bridgett flopped onto her bed and handed Gabriel a round blue trashcan. Gabriel put it on the floor beside Damian's bed.

* * *

_Author's note_

_YAY! MY WRITER'S BLOCK IS FINALLY GONE! WHOOO!_

_Long over due chapter. I wish I had gotten it written sooner. My friend **misho-v1** gave me a few of the ideas. Just a little information here, Gabriel will be around for a little while. Can anyone guess what is going to happen with him?_

_I am going to give you a little teaser right now about what's to come. Damian cries. Coner gets mad. We'll get deeper into the kids feelings about all this. Something big happens to Nathan. They meet up with Elizabeth Carson again (does anyone remember her?). Damian gets pissed. We learn more about Damian's past._

_What do you guys think? Are you ready? Can you handle it?_

_Let me know._

_Thanks._

_- Shelby_

_I have some great ideas coming up. Some of them, my friend _


	21. Chapter 20

Damian opened his eyes. His hotel room was way too bright. He squinted and pushed himself up. The room spun around him.

"Shit." He groaned, resting his head in his hands.

"Do you remember anything from last night Damian?" Gabriel asked, holding out a handful of ibuprofen and bottle of water.

"I remember meeting you and talking and…that's it." He said, swallowing the pills. "Where are the kids?"

"Nathan and Nicola are with George wandering around the city of Chicago. Keith is teaching Coner some more guitar skills and I think Bridgett is either with George or at the lake."

"What time is it?"

Damian nodded and lay back down, pulling the covers over his head.

"You're not going back to sleep." Gabriel said, yanking the blankets away. "Get dressed, we're going to breakfast."

"I'm not hungry."

"Yes you are. And the food will help your hangover."

Damian dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and his green Converse. He pulled a red San Francisco hoodie over his head and looked at Gabriel.

Gabriel was still dressed in what he was wearing last night. Dark jeans that hung low on his hips, a gray USMC t-shirt, a tan camouflage jacket and biker boots.

"Let's go." Gabriel said, opening the hotel door and grabbing a card key.

Damian followed.

When the boys were in the elevator, Gabriel held a pair of mirrored sunglasses in front of Damian.

"You'll want those."

* * *

"Nathan, it's your turn to choose something to do." George said.

They had just spent the last hour at American Girl Place because that's what Nicola wanted to do. Since she was the youngest, Nathan let her decide what they were going to do first.

Nathan shrugged.

"There has to be something." George said, putting his hands on their shoulders and crossing the street.

Nicola struggled to carry all three of the new dolls that George had bought her. Nathan was carrying two bags that held the dolls boxes and boxes with the dolls other outfits.

Nicola had a twin baby dolls, a boy and a girl, with blonde hair and blue eyes. George had also bought her a big doll with green eyes, short reddish hair and freckles. Nicola's smile reached from ear to ear.

"I want to go home." Nathan said quietly.

"Just one more week, lad. Then we're going home." George said. "Let's drop these bags and two of Nikki's dolls at the hotel and I'll take you two to the field museme."

"But I can't have just one baby. The other two will be sad if I leave them behind, and what if they get hurt at the hotel?" Nicola asked.

"Why don't you bring one of the twins on this trip and leave your big doll—"

"Molly." She corrected kissing the red headed doll on the top of the head.

"Why don't you leave one of the twins at the hotel with Molly. She's ten remember, she can watch the twin you leave at home." George said, opening the front door to their hotel. "And on the next trip you can take the other twin. And on the trip after that you can take Molly."

"Okay." She said. "We have to be quiet when we get to the room. Damian sick."

George looked at Nathan. Nathan tilted his hand near his mouth like he was drinking, letting George know that Damian was hung over.

Even though nobody told Nathan what had happened he heard Bridgett yelling at him on the phone before he fell asleep.

* * *

For the first time in a long time, Coner McGinty was laughing. It felt a little weird and foreign, but he liked it. He was having a great time with Keith. He was leaning more about playing guitar and Keith was telling him all kinds of funny stories about when he was kid and the pranks he used to pull. They were giving him devious ideas for pranks he could play when he got home.

Home. It suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks, when he got home his parents wouldn't be there to greet him at the door. Their house in the suburbs of Derry was just an empty house.

Coner stopped laughing and tried to forget that thought and get back to having fun with Keith.

"You okay lad?" Keith asked.

Coner nodded and played a song Keith had just taught him.

* * *

_Author's note_

_No, I did not forget Bridgett. I just couldn't think of anything for her. I know it's like really, really short. That's why it's a double-post. The one reason they aren't one big chapter is that **the next chapter is a week** **later**._

_You don't have to review both chapters but I would like you to at least to comment on this chappter in the next chapter review if you decidewd to review._

_Thanks._

_- Shelby_


	22. Chapter 21

Damian climbed into his bunk and plugged his iPod into the speakers. He clicked shuffle and turned the volume to a quiet level.

It was a little after midnight. He could hear Ryan and Keith in the back laughing and joking. George was in the front lounge watching a movie with Paul who was reading. The kids were all in their bunks fast asleep.

Damian realized for the first time since the tour had started two months ago, nobody had woken up crying or scared. That was a good thing. He hoped by thinking that he wouldn't jinx it.

He rolled on to his side and let the music lull him to sleep.

* * *

_Damian was walking through the forest. It was dark and foggy. He couldn't see much of anything thing. He was barefoot and in his pajamas. He heard a branch break and started running. He didn't know why he was running he just knew he needed to get out of there. He looked over his shoulder, trying to see if he could see anything but tripped over a tree root that stuck out of the ground._

_He fell slowly but the wind rushed past him quietly. The forest melted into black. He flailed his arms, trying to stop himself, but there was nothing to grab on to._

* * *

"Mum!" Damian screamed, jerking up.

He was drenched in a cold sweat, his legs were tangled in his sheets like he had been tossing and turning for hours, he couldn't catch his breath, hot tears rolled down his cheeks and every muscle in his body was tense.

His iPod was still going. That wasn't a good way to tell time, he had over six hundred songs on his iPod. He glanced at his watch it was two in the morning.

He realized that he had screamed for his mom. It had been a while since he had had a dream like that. It had been even longer since he woke up screaming for his mom.

His curtain was pulled aside. Keith was standing there, a look of concern on his face.

"You okay, lad?" Keith asked.

"Just a bad dream." Damian said, rubbing his arms.

"Are you gonna be okay?" he asked.

Damian shook his head.

"Come on." he said, holding his arm out.

Damian slid out of his bunk and walked into the front lounge. He sat down on the black leather couch and pulled his knees up to his chest. The bus was quiet. Everybody but Keith, Damian and the bus driver was asleep. Keith shut the door to the bunk area and sat down next to Damian.

He put his arm around the teen's shoulders and pulled him close.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"…I miss her." Damian whispered through his tears.

"I know, lad." Keith said, sympathetically. "We all miss her."

"I want my mum back." He said, burying his face in Keith's shoulder and sobbing. "I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to have to worry about them all the time. I can barely take care of myself."

Keith held Damian tightly as he cried. Ten minutes later Damian, tears still rolling down his red face.

"Damian, listen to me. We can help you. You don't have to do this alone." Keith said, looking Damian in the eye. "Me and Paul and Ryan and George we can help you with them. We managed to raise without messing you up too badly."

Damian managed to laugh through his sobs.

"If you ever need a break, all you have to do it say so. We'll help watch the kids and you can relax. You can still be a kid too. You just need to ask for help."

Damian nodded, suddenly too tired for words.

Keith helped him to his bunk and tucked him in.

* * *

"I can't believe you came to see me off." Damian said to Gabriel, walking through O'Hare International Airport. "It is one in the morning."

He was pushing a luggage trolley through the halls to their terminal. Nathan was sitting on the pile of suitcases playing the PSP that George had bought him. He was currently growling at a game called _Grand Theft Auto._ Damian had no idea what it was about but Nathan liked it.

"I like you, and I wanted to say goodbye." Gabriel said, helping Damian push the trolley.

"You didn't have too." Damian said, feeling his cheeks blush.

"But I don't know when I'm going to see you again."

"Pretty soon if you come to Ireland."

Damian didn't know why he was practically flirting with Gabriel; it was something new to him. He just got this funny feeling in the pit of his stomach when he talked to him and smiled whenever he saw him. He even dreamed about Gabriel.

"I just might take you up on that offer."

Nathan climbed off the trolley so they could check their bags.

Gabriel walked with Damian all the way to security.

"I guess this is goodbye." Gabriel said.

"If you get on that plane with me it won't me."

Gabriel raised his eyebrows.

"What are you thinking?" Damian asked, tugging on the straps of his backpack.

"Damian." Bridgett hollered.

"You'll see. Call me when you land." Gabriel said, holding his arms out.

Damian hugged his new friend and headed off towards security. Gabriel grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. He kissed Damian on the lips and pulled away a few seconds later.

"I'm sorry." He said.

Damian smiled. "I'm not. I'll see you later."

Damian quickly kissed Gabriel's cheek and ran off to security.

Coner, Nathan, Nicola and Bridgett were sitting in uncomfortable airport chairs near the terminal when Damian walked up.

"Let's go home." Damian smiled.

They sat down in their seats. Nicola and Bridgett across the isle from Damian and Nathan, Coner alone behind them.

The flight attendant turned the lights off once the plane reached altitude. The passengers started falling asleep.

Nathan leaned against Damian, half asleep. Damian wrapped his arm around his little brother and started thing about how their life was going to be when they got home.

In a few days everybody would be going back to school. Nicola would be going into her first year of primary school and no doubt she would be scared. Nathan was going into his second year of secondary school. Coner was a year behind in his schooling so he was going into his second year of third year secondary school. Bridgett was going into her fifth year of secondary school. What concerned Damian the most was the cost of tuition, uniforms and books.

* * *

_Author's note_

_This and the last chapter are filler chapters with slight information. I didn't really plan for this to happen. But it will be explained later._

_Once they are back in Ireland some more drama will happen. Like I said in the teaser two chapters ago. I have a lot planned. I just needed to get them out of America._

_You will all just have to wait and see. I hope you liked it._

_Thanks._

_- Shelby_


	23. Chapter 22

"I missed home." Coner said, doing a face plant on to the worn blue couch.

Damian nodded in agreement and slid into a black leather recliner.

"Come on. Let's go play." Nicola said, tugging on his hand.

"Cola, can I please sleep?" he asked, opening his eyes.

She shook her head, staring at him with those big brown eyes of hers.

"If I take you over to Ellis's will you be happy?" he asked.

She nodded.

Damian retied her left shoe and walked her down the block to her friend's house.

When he got back home Coner was sitting on the front porch swing staring across the street.

"What's up, Coner?" Damian asked, sitting down next to him.

"You seemed really happy on the flight home." He said, pushing off the ground, swinging them back and forth.

Damian flashed back to the kiss he had with Gabriel before boarding the flight. He was happy on the ride home. He wasn't sure how he felt about Gabriel, but he liked the kiss.

"You did too." Damian said, avoiding the upcoming question that was in his little brother's eyes.

"I missed home…I missed my friends…"

"And you missed Ezra."

"I'm over Ezra. She's a cold hearted, two timing bitch."

"Watch you mouth…so who do you like now?"

"You don't know her."

"I don't know a lot of the people you are friends with. I was four years ahead of you in school when I graduated. And you hardly talk to me anymore."

"I never really talked to you before."

"You used to. You used to tell me everything. What's her name and what's wrong with her?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now." Coner sighed, staring at the sky.

Damian shook his head with a smile and went inside. Coner was never one to share things if he didn't want to. You could sit there and dance around the subject for hours, but if he didn't want to talk about it, you wouldn't know.

Nathan ran down the living room stairs and skidded to a stop in front of Damian.

"Can we play some football?" he asked, kicking the black and white ball off the floor. He caught it and looked up at Damian hopefully.

"Not right now." Damian said, heading for the stairs. "You start school on Monday and we have to go shopping for your uniforms soon. Go try on your old uniforms. I need to know what to buy you."

Nathan groaned.

"I'm gonna make Bridgett and Coner do the same thing. Nicola too when she gets home."

"Where's Niki?"

"At a friends so she'll be out of our hair for a while. I'll go get her in a few hours. Around bedtime. Go try on your uniforms."

Nathan nodded and watched Damian walk into the kitchen. He dropped his ball and trucked up the stairs to his room. He knew his old uniforms would still fit because he hadn't grown at all since last school year.

Nathan sat down on his bed and looked around his room. It was the same room he had had since he was born. The walls were painted blue and his walls were covered in posters of models and cars and football stars. He had a corkboard on his wall above his desk that was covered in ticket stubs and pictures.

His room reminded him so much of his mom. She helped him decorate it a few years ago. He had made his tie dyed comforter with her. Her picture was on the corkboard, his desk and his nightstand. She had sewn the pink bunny for him that was somewhere in one of his bags. She helped make the patchwork quilt that lay across the foot of his bed.

He really missed her. He liked to think that she was up in heaven with his dad and God, looking down on them. Making sure everything was okay and they wouldn't get hurt. Like a guardian angel.

He looked at the small pile of duffle bags and suitcases by his door. Sighing, he pushed himself up and started sorting out dirty clothes and clean clothes, tossing the clothes into piles on how they smelled. It was a little hard to tell what things were clean and what was dirty because everything smelled like America.

He put a shirt to his nose and tossed it into the dirty pile.

Nathan was never the biggest fan of traveling because there was a lot of change while traveling. He never liked change. He had a hard time when they rearranged his room when he out grew his crib, and then his "big boy" bed. The only reason he was okay with how his room was now is because his mom helped design it and made she it took a long time to do so he wouldn't get overwhelmed.

Out of all the McGinty children, Nathan was the only one who couldn't handle overwhelming tasks, and stress. Whenever things got overwhelming he would hide in his room and try to get a grip on things again. His mom would usually come up and talk to him. She wouldn't say anything special or something like that. She would just sit with him wherever he was, if it was on his bed or in his closet, she was right next to him, her arm around his shoulders, telling him a story to get his mind off of the stress.

Nathan picked up his large pile of dirty clothes, most of which were probably clean, and tossed them down the laundry shoot. He dumped the last few things out of his duffle bags and suitcases and carried them up to the attic.

He looked at the pile of random objects on his floor, wondering where to put them all. He had a lot of weird souvenirs from America, snow globes, stuffed animals, books, and decks of cards, airplane and train tickets, necklaces, and knit hats

He put everything away quickly and laid down in his bed, finally able to sleep in a familiar place. He reached under his pillow trying to find Bun-Bun, the pink bunny his mom made, but all he found was his dirty pajamas. He jerked up and looked through his sheets. Nothing. He quickly scanned the room, thinking maybe he had unpacked him and didn't pick him up, but his room was clean.

He stood up his heart racing, tears in his eyes. He needed to find Bun-Bun. He was the oldest and most precious thing he owned.

"Nate." Coner said, kicking the door open.

Nathan spun around.

"This was in my suitcase. Figured you'd want it." He said, tossing something through the air. He left before Nathan had the chance to catch it.

Nathan smiled at the pink bunny Coner had thrown at him, wondering how it had gotten into his suitcase.

* * *

Coner slipped out the front door after Damian got home with a sleeping Nicola. The wind blew harshly, making him debate whether he should go or not. The thought of seeing her made up his mind. He zipped his jacket and broke into a run.

He climbed up the drainpipe on the side of a house and climbed on to the roof the porch.

"Open up." Coner said, knocking on a window. "Come on Jubilee."

A pale girl with jet-black hair pushed up the window and threw her arms around his shoulders.

"I missed you so much." She said, pulling him into her room.

Coner picked Jubilee up and dropped on to her bed, with her lying on top of him.

"No sex." She giggled into his chest.

"I guess I can live with that." He said, kissing her.

* * *

_Author's note_

_I finally got around to writing more! Yay!_

_Well now that the McGinty kids are back in Ireland a lot more is going to happen. I am working on the next chapter. It's just not long enough to post. I'll try and get that up in the next day or two._

_What do you guys think of Jubilee so far? I know I haven't given you much to go off by her, but I like her. But then again, I know what she will be like in later chapters. Has any one picked up on her name? Jubliee? Anyone? No...she's from the _X-Men_._

_Which reminds me. I have posted a new story. It's called _Cooled by Fire_. It's about John and Bobby from _X-Men_. If you want, go check it out._

_Thanks._

_- Shelby_


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